PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "On Monday, the jury sent a note to the court saying they had been unable to reach a unanimous verdict and asked the judge for advice. The judge called the men and women back into court at about 12.30pm, where he said he did have the power to discharge the jury if there was no genuine likelihood of them reaching agreement. But he said experience showed that with more time sometimes agreement could be reached. Acting Justice Kellam encouraged the jurors to re-examine the points on which they disagreed. But he also warned the jury members that if they could not honestly agree, they must give effect to their own view of the evidence."
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STORY: "Eastman jury tell judge of stalemate, told to keep deliberating," by reporters Alexandra Back and Michael Inman, published by The Canberra Times on November 19, 2018.
GIST: "The
jury deciding the verdict for murder in the marathon trial of David
Harold Eastman told a court on Monday they have been unable to reach a
unanimous decision. Acting Justice Murray Kellam encouraged the
jury to continue deliberating for a time before he sent them home early
for the day, saying: "I don't want anyone suffering from stress." The jury had begun their discussions at about 10.30am on Wednesday. Mr
Eastman, 73, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Australian Federal
Police Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester at about 9.15pm on
January 10, 1989. Mr Winchester was shot dead as he pulled into his next door neighbour's Deakin driveway on that date with two shots to the head. His trial began on June 4 this year with a jury empanelment at Albert Hall. During
the trial, prosecutors alleged Mr Eastman was motivated by a murderous
hatred of police and was the one who killed the police chief in 1989. They
said the murder weapon was a Ruger 10/22 sold by the late Louis
Klarenbeek, and alleged a witness saw Mr Eastman at the gun seller's
home. There were too many coincidences for Mr Eastman to not be the killer, prosecutors said. But the former treasury official's defence team said there too many unknowns in the evidence. They argued that it was not Mr Eastman who bought the murder weapon. The defence also pointed to what they said was a reasonable possibility that the Italian mafia orchestrated a hit on the senior police officer, believing he had betrayed them. The
jury retired to begin deliberations about 10.30am on Wednesday, and
went home for the weekend before returning on Monday morning. During their deliberations, they asked the court for access to transcripts including of the evidence of Mr Klarenbeek, his wife, and that of Denis Reid, and Raymond Webb. Mr
Reid gave evidence in the trial that a man he said was Mr Eastman had
come into his Queanbeyan sports store and tried to sell him a Ruger
10/22 shortly before the murder. The Crown case is that the sight of the Klarenbeek Ruger was off. Mr Webb had told the court that he saw Mr Eastman going into the Klarenbeek home. On
Monday, the jury sent a note to the court saying they had been unable
to reach a unanimous verdict and asked the judge for advice. The
judge called the men and women back into court at about 12.30pm, where
he said he did have the power to discharge the jury if there was no
genuine likelihood of them reaching agreement. But he said experience showed that with more time sometimes agreement could be reached. Acting Justice Kellam encouraged the jurors to re-examine the points on which they disagreed. But
he also warned the jury members that if they could not honestly agree,
they must give effect to their own view of the evidence. The jury
retired again briefly before the judge called them back in at about
2.30pm to send them home early, saying it had been a long day. The jury is expected to return on Tuesday to continue deliberations."
The entire story can be read at:
The entire story can be read at:
