A lawyer for the Crown has told the Court of Appeal that no miscarriage of justice occurred at the trial of two men who called themselves the Killer Clown Fiends.
Mikhail Pandey-Johnson and Karl Nuku, who were sentenced to serve at least 18 years in jail for the murder of Dean Browne in January 2010, are seeking to have their convictions overturned.
A New Plymouth woman found Mr Browne's body in her garage. He had been dumped there after being beaten to death with a hammer in the Wellington suburb of Oriental Bay.
Pandey-Johnson's lawyer told the court in Wellington on Tuesday that a miscarriage of justice occurred when a witness with name suppression was allowed to give evidence at the trial.
The woman had been granted immunity from prosecution, despite admitting injecting Mr Browne with morphine the night he died.
However, the Crown said the woman gave evidence for a week and the jury did not accept what she said unless it was corroborated by other Crown witnesses.
The court has reserved its decision.
