zwiebel
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Guilty, raised an appeal. Hung jury, these were the words typed on a mobile phone that caused a third manslaughter trial of Ronald Leslie Pennington to be aborted earlier this week and left the judge "almost speechless with rage".
Mr Pennington was extradited from Tasmania to stand trial for the death of 41-year-old Cariad Anderson Slater who disappeared in July 1992 and her skeletal remains were found in 2011 in a backyard where Pennington used to live.
This is the third trial he's undergone and: 'The jury of 14 men and women had been given directions at the beginning of the trial that they were not to make inquiries about the circumstances of the retrial they were taking part in.'
One juror's girlfriend researched the previous cases online however, texted her boyfriend and he in turn shared them with some fellow jurors. Despite what the judge called the huge emotional and financial cost, he felt he had no choice but to abandon the trial. The victim's mother and sister were visibly upset, and the juror was called into court to explain his actions.
A new trial could be scheduled to begin August 21st, unless prosecutors decide to drop the case.
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/t...th-scrapped-20140730-zyj6e.html#ixzz394lU0Ge8
Mr Pennington was extradited from Tasmania to stand trial for the death of 41-year-old Cariad Anderson Slater who disappeared in July 1992 and her skeletal remains were found in 2011 in a backyard where Pennington used to live.
This is the third trial he's undergone and: 'The jury of 14 men and women had been given directions at the beginning of the trial that they were not to make inquiries about the circumstances of the retrial they were taking part in.'
One juror's girlfriend researched the previous cases online however, texted her boyfriend and he in turn shared them with some fellow jurors. Despite what the judge called the huge emotional and financial cost, he felt he had no choice but to abandon the trial. The victim's mother and sister were visibly upset, and the juror was called into court to explain his actions.
A new trial could be scheduled to begin August 21st, unless prosecutors decide to drop the case.
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/t...th-scrapped-20140730-zyj6e.html#ixzz394lU0Ge8