Pretrial — aborting trial — indecent assault — obstructing the course of justice — new evidence — counsel in conflict — R v JHW, X, and Y [2018] NZDC 23552. Three defendants faced charges arising from alleged sexual assaults. The first defendant was alleged to have indecently assaulted two people. All three defendants were alleged to have obstructed the course of justice by attempting to dissuade one of the complainants from giving evidence. Several days into the trial, the Court learned of newly-discovered evidence against the defendants. Counsel for the third defendant submitted that the new evidence put her in a position of conflict, meaning that she was going to have to stop representing the defendant. The third defendant obtained new counsel, who asked for the trial to be aborted. The Court found that it had no choice but to agree to abort the trial, and discharged the jury. Judgment Date: 4 April 2019.