Social networking website posed threat to trial

A MESSAGE on a Bebo social networking site to 'Get the right result' could have brought about the collapse of the trial.

The brother of a young woman serving on the jury brought it to the attention of the court staff at a key point in the trial —Day 31 — the commencement of defence evidence, that her brother received a message on his Bebo site, referring to the trial and bearing the words, 'Get the right result'.

This was one of several moments in the trial where Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin was asked to discharge the entire jury which would have automatically collapsed the case and brought about the necessity of a re-trial.

Again it was a matter dealt with under the terms of what is called 'legal argument'. In other words, the jury is in the jury room and they cannot be told what is being discussed in their absence. Now that the trial is over, such matters can be disclosed.

The judge said as this news broke in court: "One of the jurors has Googled information. She has been told not to discuss it with other jurors. Her brother brought it up. I have worries about her continuing on the jury."

Lawyers for the prosecution and for Daly and Wharrie had no objection to the case going ahead before a jury of 11. Wanden's senior counsel, Padraig Dwyer, wanted the entire jury discharged.

Judge Ó Donnabháin said that there was no question of the other jurors being 'contaminated' with whatever message appeared on the website as the particular juror had been told not to discuss it in any way with the rest of the jury.

The judge refused the application to discharge the entire jury — as he did after each application that was made for many and various reasons by the defence lawyers during the trial.

He ruled that the case should continue in front of nine men and two women and those jurors were told that the twelfth juror was being released for personal reasons. The issue was so sensitive that the word 'released' was used in preference to 'discharged' in case the remaining jurors would read anything sinister into it.

The judge repeatedly warned the jury not to discuss the case with anyone not on the jury and to pay no attention to media reports of the case.

In relation to other applications to discharge a jury in trials generally, the arguments made by defence lawyers during these applications — as noted in the daily transcript of the case — often form the basis of an appeal of a conviction or sentence or both to the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Often in court where the atmosphere is loaded with tension, humour can lighten the load for a jury dealing with a huge volume of evidence. However, in this trial even laughter formed the basis of defence objections.

Early in the trial there was a moment of laughter from the jury when Tom Creed senior counsel said to Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin: "I am not criticising you for criticising me," after the judge expressed concern about Mr Creed repeating parts of the answers given by witnesses.

Blaise O'Carroll SC for Joseph Daly complained: "My client is on trial on a very serious matter, it is not a comedy show . . . I think cracking a joke in a court of law is not appropriate, it is a sacred place."

And in this sacred place the jury of 12 — and then 11 — ordinary people from Cork city and county spent two months of their lives this Summer hearing a case they are unlikely to forget.