Prosecution finishes closing arguments in Netflix star’s case

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The prosecution has continued its closing address in the criminal trial of crocodile wrangler, Matt Wright. Mr Wright has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Transcript

00:00After three weeks and evidence from more than 20 witnesses, the prosecution is presenting

00:07their closing address to the jury in the trial of Matt Wright. Today, Prosecutor Jason Galacci

00:12SC emphasized what they describe as Mr. Wright's motive for allegedly interfering with the crash

00:19investigation. The prosecution alleged Mr. Wright feared authorities would discover routine

00:24practices in his business, whereby flying hours of helicopters were underreported to avoid costly

00:30maintenance and repairs. This included for the chopper which crashed in February 2022, which

00:37expert evidence indicated was highly likely to have exceeded its maximum flying hour threshold,

00:43which would have required the aircraft to either be retired or receive extensive maintenance repairs.

00:49Mr. Galacci told the jury Mr. Wright's alleged attempts to avoid blame began with his decision

00:54to visit the scene of the crash, where it's alleged he checked the wreckage of the crashed

00:59chopper to see whether the flight meter was connected correctly, the prosecution describing

01:04this as clinical and premeditated behavior. The prosecution is taking the jury through each

01:10of the three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice, starting with count one,

01:15which relates to allegations Mr. Wright lied to police during a recorded interview when he told

01:21them he thought the crash chopper had half a tank of fuel. The prosecution has urged the jury to

01:26disregard any suggestion by the defense that Mr. Wright was trying to protect the pilot when he lied

01:32to authorities. The defense is expected to deliver their closing remarks tomorrow.

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