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Snoring juror dismissed from Australian murder trial

The juror was said to be asleep ‘for some period of time’

Bethany Dawson
Wednesday 25 November 2020 12:10 GMT
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The incident took place in a Sydney court (REUTERS/Loren Elliott)
The incident took place in a Sydney court (REUTERS/Loren Elliott)

A jury member in a three-month long Australian murder trial was dismissed after falling asleep and snoring in court.

The unnamed woman was part of a  jury of 15 hearing a case into a murder orchestrated by a Sydney drug gang which ended up with the life of a bystander being taken in February 2017.

As the prosecution case neared its crucial final days, Justice Peter Hamill noticed in court that the juror "was clearly asleep for some period of time".

As well as that, court staff could clearly her the juror snoring.

"I made those observations because the fact of their somnolence was brought to my attention by members of my staff," he said.

"Yesterday, members of my staff again drew my attention to the juror and each of them could not only see that they appeared to be asleep, but were of the view that they could hear them snoring."

The New South Wales Supreme Court judge didn’t hear snoring, but a nearby juror "was patently aware of the problem".

The woman’s sleeping was a feature of the jury on at least four seperate occasions, and was noted to occur during evidence in which police investigators were cross-examined, in addition to the prosecutor's closing address, the judge said.

"The juror's inability to remain awake... caused me to conclude that there is a reason affecting the juror's ability to perform the functions of a juror," Justice Hamill said.

The judge also considered the impact on juror numbers, noting three of the 15 would be discharged once the time came for the jury to begin deliberations.

After being told her services would no longer be utilised within the courts, the juror disclosed there was a medical reason for her sleepiness.

"It should be recorded, without reference to private information, that the juror was diligent and attentive until the last week or so of the trial, and their inability to remain awake was understandable and beyond their control," Justice Hamill said in his reasons.

Regardless of the troubles with the sleeping juror, the court came to a verdict.

It found three men guilty of murdering a Chinese national Qin Wu, 37, and shooting with intent to kill Jun Jia on February 1, 2017.

Sentencing is expected to take place next year.

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