The legal aid bill for Mama Hooch rapist brothers Danny and Roberto Jaz is now more than a million dollars - and the total is likely to increase even further.  Soon after the sex offenders were sentenced in 2023, the Herald revealed they had received more than $896,000 from the country’s legal aid coffers.  Brothers Danny Jaz (left), and Roberto Jaz were sentenced on a raft of charges. Photo / George Heard  Following their High Court appeal in July, the Ministry of Justice confirmed a further $130,895 had been provided to the Australian-born criminals, bringing their total legal aid bill to $1,027,412.  As of this month Danny Jaz has received $561,554.14 in legal aid and Roberto Jaz has received $465,857.63.  Ministry of Justice Legal Services Commissioner Tracey Baguley said the figures were based on invoices received to date.  “Some of the legal aid files remain open and further invoices may be received; therefore, these amounts may change,” she advised.  Baguley said the amount paid included appeal costs of $53,671.65 for Danny Jaz and $43,658.96 for Roberto Jaz.  Auckland lawyers Ron Mansfield KC and James Carruthers represented the men at their appeal before Justice Cameron Mander in the High Court at Christchurch.  Mansfield’s most notable recent case was the prosecution of Philip Polkinghorne, the Auckland eye surgeon accused and acquitted of murdering his wife, Pauline Hanna.  Ron Mansfield KC. Photo / Michael Craig  After a trial spanning three months, Danny and Roberto Jaz were convicted of 69 charges between them, including rape, sexual violation, indecent assault, stupefying, disabling, making intimate recordings of women without their knowledge or consent and supplying illicit drugs. The offending took place at Mama Hooch and nearby Venuti - a bar and restaurant owned and run by the Jaz family in central Christchurch.  Each brother pleaded guilty to some charges and were found guilty by Judge Paul Mabey on the others.  He then sentenced Danny Jaz to 16-and-a-half years in prison for drugging and or violating 19 women.  Roberto Jaz was sentenced to 17 years behind bars for offending against eight women.  Both men were ordered to serve a minimum of half of their sentences before they are eligible for parole.  At their appeal, Mansfield accused Judge Mabey of bias and procedural unfairness, claiming the brothers were denied a fair trial.  He said the judge failed to remain neutral, favouring the Crown’s case over the men’s right to present a defence, further claiming he “ran roughshod” over and “shut down” defence evidence, resulting in a substantial miscarriage of justice.  Judge Paul Mabey KC. Photo / George Heard  The Crown argued against the appeal, saying that while the trial, which spanned three months, was not perfect, the outcome was solid and right.  The appeal decision is yet to be released.  Last year a Mama Hooch survivor criticised the gulf in public funding for the defence compared to financial compensation and assistance for the victims.  Sophie Brown told the Herald she felt “disgusted” and “sad, quite frankly” about the amount the offenders were able to access to assist them in court.  “The fact that whatever a percentage of my money is going towards them fighting [the legal case]... is pretty disgusting,” she said.  “They’ve taken the rights of women away and now they are legally allowed to consume taxpayer money too.”  Mama Hooch sexual assault survivor Sophie Brown. Photo / Joe Allison  Although the victims were paid for their time when giving evidence during the trial and offered some counselling from a Christchurch sexual assault charity, Brown said for her the counselling did not work out.  “I appreciate what they [victim support] did for us when testifying for the trial, like going through booking travel and organising to come down to th...