AAP General News (Australia)
04-09-2008
NSW: Jury at Gilham trial in "signficant disagreement"
By Margaret Scheikowski
SYDNEY, April 9 AAP - Jurors deliberating at the double-murder trial of Jeffrey Gilham
have told a Sydney judge they are in "significant disagreement".
After receiving the jurors' note in the NSW Supreme Court today, Justice Roderick Howie
sent the seven women and five men home to quietly reflect on the case.
Gilham, 37, has pleaded not guilty to the stabbing murders of his parents, Steven and
Helen Gilham, at the family home at Woronora, in Sydney's south, on August 28, 1993.
In April 1995, he pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his brother Christopher.
The civil engineer told the jury he fatally stabbed him after his brother confessed
to killing their parents.
But the Crown contended Gilham killed all three family members.
The jurors retired on Monday and were due to go home at midday (AEST) today, because
one juror had to attend a medical appointment.
As the court reassembled, the judge referred to receiving their note about being in
"significant disagreement".
He told them experience had shown that when jurors said they could not reach, or it
was unlikely they would reach, a unanimous verdict, "a little more time and more patience"
led to an agreement.
But he stressed he was not asking anybody to "move away from their view" if they could
not reasonably do so.
"I am not going to force you to sit intolerably, until people wilt," he added.
The juror involved in the medical appointment has indicated that its outcome may mean
he or she is not available tomorrow.
Depending on the outcome, Justice Howie said the jury should resume their deliberations
tomorrow or Friday.
He also told the jury an ABC Four Corners program broadcast on Monday night about a
possible miscarriage of justice in another murder trial had "absolutely no bearing" on
the Gilham case.
AAP mss/hn/imc/mn
KEYWORD: GILHAM
2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
No comments:
Post a Comment