A jury has been told former MP Taito Phillip Field has been through close to a public witchhunt and to keep an open mind when considering charges against him.
Field's lawyer Paul Davison told the jury in the High Court at Auckland today that Field "steadfastly and forthrightly" maintained he was innocent of the 35 criminal charges he is facing.
The charges allege that Field had Thai nationals carry out work on his properties in return for immigration help Field gave, and that he then tried to derail investigations into his conduct.
But Mr Davison said Field gave all his immigration assistance unconditionally and expected to be charged for the work done on his properties, and that he never tried to obstruct the course of justice.
Mr Davison said that Field had gone through something "akin to a public witchhunt" after the allegations against him were first made public and that the trial was the first time the issues would be examined impartially, and he asked jurors to approach their task with a scrupulous degree of independence.
"If ever there was a case that called to be judged on the evidence by an independent body of jurors to determine what really happened it's a case like this because inevitably each and every one of you will have come with some predetermined notions about this case.
"There have been strong opinions expressed about Mr Field and criticism, and he maintains that the truth has not emerged."
Twelve of the charges are for bribery and corruption as an MP. They allege that Field, the MP for Mangere between 1993 and 2008, had Thai nationals carry out tens of thousands of dollars of work on five of his properties in return for help with their immigration issues.
Mr Davison said that prosecutors had to prove the Thai tradesmen carried out the work with the intention of rewarding Field for his help with their immigration issues, and that with that knowledge Field accepted the work for free or discounted prices.
But he said Field helped with the immigration cases "on exactly the same basis and terms as that which he undertook for hundreds if not thousands of people that he assisted as an MP ... entirely unconditionally with no expectation of any reward".
He said that Field had developed a close association with a group of Thai people in the Mangere area, who had formed a local Thai branch of the Labour Party.
"Despite this close relationship, he only ever asked for work to be done on his properties on the basis which you would normally engage any tradesperson, on basis that he would be charged for the work."
Mr Davison said the defence disputed the accuracy of some prosecution evidence, and said there would be people giving evidence who had every reason to lie and to mislead Field.
Mr Davison told jurors they also needed to look at Field's intentions in relation to his actions in regard to the 23 charges he faces of wilfully attempting to obstruct or pervert the course of justice.
Prosecutors allege Field arranged false receipts or invoices to be created in relation to the work on the properties, arranged for witnesses to make false statements and made false statements himself for the purpose of preventing charges being laid against him.
Mr Davison said Field did try to get written documentation to prove he made payments to some of the Thai workers that he believed to be paid, but that was only in an attempt to accurately record what happened to the best of his belief.
Field also admitted he spoke to the Thai workers about how they should speak to a government-ordered inquiry by Noel Ingram about the work carried out on his houses, but Mr Davison said he never told them to lie to Mr Ingram or to police in their subsequent investigation.
"The central issue over these charges is, did he hold an intention to pervert the course of justice, or were his actions undertaken with innocent intention."
Mr Davison was addressing a jury of 11 after the jury foreman selected yesterday was discharged by Justice Rodney Hansen this morning.
Among the 45 expected prosecution witnesses are Labour MP Ross Robertson, former police commissioner Rob Robinson, several of the Thai workers, and Dr Ingram.
