Courts / Ireland / Report

Senior judge would 'deprecate' any researching of jurors post trial

Summary

In a Court of Appeal hearing on 24 April 2020, Mr Justice George Birmingham, the President of the Court of Appeal, expressed that he had never heard of post‑trial research into jurors and would deprecate such practice if it were emerging. The case concerned a 53‑year‑old man convicted in February 2019 of sexually assaulting a 13‑year‑old girl, who received a sentence of three‑and‑a‑half years with the final year suspended. Lawyers for the defendant argued that a post‑trial investigation had raised concerns about the impartiality of the jury, citing connections between jurors, the defendant's employer, and the complainant's family. The defence claimed the jury had no knowledge of these connections, while the Director of Public Prosecutions maintained that no evidence showed jurors had acted on such information. Mr Justice Birmingham noted the matter was curious and that he would reserve judgment and return a decision soon.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Senior judge would 'deprecate' any researching of jurors post trial. Procedural stage: appeal. Findings: Convicted

When:

• February 2019 Incident
• May 17, 2019 Incident
• August 19, 2015 Incident
• 2020-04-24 Publication

Why: Mr Delaney said a more reasonable assumption for an informed observer to make is that the jurors said nothing because they did not make any such connection. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Appeal

Read the original CNI report