A jury trial for two men who were charged with murder following an alleged shotgun ambush in Auckland has been aborted.

Sosaia Vaitohi and Methuselah Talakai had been on trial since last week in the High Court at Auckland. But Justice Mathew Downs decided yesterday to call off the trial, which was scheduled to last three weeks, after the 12-person jury was reduced to 10 people.

Prosecutors have alleged Vaitohi was the gunman and Talakai was the driver in the early morning hours of May 23 last year when Alec Junior Moala, 31, died outside an Ōtāhuhu home due to multiple shotgun wounds.

The bad blood between Moala and the defendants had started the day earlier, after Talakai went to the same home for a drug deal set up by Moala's cousin that fell through, Crown prosecutor Chris Howard told jurors last week. The cousin, Chanelle Mafileo, was slapped by Talakai as he demanded money from her, the prosecutor alleged during his opening address.

Moala got into a heated phone exchange with the defendants regarding the slap after he arrived at the property hours later, prosecutors said.

But defence lawyers Anoushka Bloem, who represents Vaitohi, and Julie-Anne Kincade, KC, who represents Talakai, have both said their clients were not at the property when Moala was shot.

Alec Junior Moala was shot dead in May 2021. Photo / Supplied

Mafileo, who was the first eye-witness to testify, said repeatedly over the course of two days in the witness box that she could not recall anything about the shooting due to her lack of sleep and usage of drugs and alcohol in the days leading up to the incident.

Another witness, John Faavae, who was sitting in a car parked in the driveway of the property where his friend died, said the gunman walked right past him before he heard three loud blasts.

While he couldn't identify the gunman, he said he heard Mafileo call out for someone by the name of "Saia" to stop. Saia is Vaitohi's nickname, prosecutors have alleged.

But lawyers for the two defendants suggested during cross-examination that he was making up details about the shooting to implicate their clients. He never mentioned that name being said prior to the shooting when he spoke to police on the morning of Moala's death, he acknowledged.

"I did hear the name," Faavae responded. "At the time I was too frightened to say it [to police]."

The trial got off almost immediately to a rough start, with Justice Downs dismissing the first juror as the second day of testimony was set to begin due to the juror having a connection to the case. The trial continued with 11 jurors.

The second juror was dismissed due to illness.

A new trial date is set to be determined next month.