First day of trial over...

[lawlessone2009]

ANOTHER DAY!!!!!!

Argh...

Only kidding.

It's all sounding very positive.

From what I have gathered throughout the thread and also the running commentary things should be nice and straight laced with Not Guilty verdicts.

However, and it's not to dash any hopes, sometimes the jury do genuinely get things wrong. They can be misled, overpowered by fellow members or beated into submission. The world around them including family, friends, the media and the government can all have subtle impacts.

Your (husbands) legal team appear to have done a blooming good job so even if the worst was to happen an appeal on many grounds appears to be possible.

I'm not putting a downer on it all!!! I'm merely indicating that a good defence seems to have been presented, the accusations have been torn to shreds and the judge appears to be a fair person. There is little more you can hope for now but a jury doing their job and delivering NGs all round.

I am keeping everything crossed for you guys.

[Hopeful]

Good luck

Hi again from hopeful and husband, we wish you a speedy end to today and with what has been said in the recent part of the thread it looks like even the judge is swaying your way a little. I know we should not get our hopes up to much but we are feeling very positive today for you all. Holding onto a lot of bananas when you update us.
All our prayers and thoughts are with you
Paul, Michelle and the bananas....

[Saffron]

Hoping for good news. You are in my thoughts xx

[0990]

good luck hope it goes well

[exhausted]

Fingers crossed

My fingers and toes are all crossed for you while waiting to hear good news.

[just married]

Good luck, Absolutely Gutted. Waiting to hear. Thoughts and prayers with you, and everything crossed.

[Absolutely gutted]

Hello all

well, the jury was sent to deliberate this morning at 10am and this afternoon at 4pm was still not able to agree on a verdict. Shortly before lunchtime they asked if they could have a look at the claimant's statement which as the judge pointed out is apparently not permitted once the jury starts deliberation, so that at least shows that they have their doubts.
I have a feeling that they might not remember everything from the judge's direction yesterday or were maybe not even paying attention properly (I saw only three people taking notes yesterday)...but then again I'm not in their heads and might be entirely wrong.
I'm just so tired now, I want a verdict and am scared that it might even go as far as a hung jury (god, I don't want to even think going through another trial!)..but we will see.
I thought the facts are quite clear considering the medical evidence and the witness statements...even the judge hinted at the issues to be considered not being very complex.
It all depends on the jury now, I would have more to say but I don't want to reveal too much on here fearing that maybe some of the jury members might do some research..

Thanks so much for all your support and interest in our trial, it is much appreciated

[Saffron]

AG, I am so sorry to hear this. BUT it isn't bad news. It just means holding on for a few more days. You have been so strong for such a long time - you CAN do these last few days.
I would also be very encouraged that the jury are at least thinking about it. They haven't taken the FA's word as gospel, there are clearly some among them who are not sure.
Jury members are not allowed to research defendants or complainants. In fact I am pretty sure someone was convicted of APCOJ last year for googling a defendant's name while she was doinf jury service. Apparently it turned out that he had previously been acquitted of rape (no bearing on the case that was being heard) and she told the other jurors about it. They in turn told the judge and the trial was halted. The juror who had done the research ended up serving a prison sentence, I believe.
Hang in there. You have done so brilliantly for so long. You can do another couple of days.
Sending you strength and honour.

[Absolutely gutted]

Thanks so much Saffron:-)
Yeah I've heard about that particular case, I was reading about it yesterday actually. I know they are not allowed to do that (the judge was addressing that issue before he sent them hoem today) but that doesn't mean they won't do it anyway when they are alone at home, right?
In any case, the judge still indicated the option to allow a majority (10 to 2 i believe?) if they are taking too long.
It's good to have a day break from it all I guess, I have to get back to work tomorrow anyway. I really hope that the long wait is worth it.

[RFLH]

goodness - you must be living life on a knife edge st the moment. Try to keep positive and go out tomorrow, even if its just for a walk round the block or for a pint. Don't stay in and try to second guess.


Keep being strong, you're doing wonderfully well.

[Angry and frightened]

The long wait WILL be worth it, AG, the worst is over. You are on the final lap now, and will soon be crossing the finishing line as the victor! Thinking of you

[Lusijay]

Wow reading all of this brings back what me and my man were going through 2 weeks ago. Everything sounds the same- jury questions, character references etc. we ended up waiting for days and then ended up with a hung jury it's awful knowing we will have to do it all again but I just keep telling myself it's better than getting a guilty verdict because he would have been in prison now, not sat next to me watching tv stay strong and I know it is so so hard, it's the hardest thing you will do, but it will make you so much stronger I promise. You'll know not to trust easily and not to take things for granted, even more so if you already know these things. I assure you I will be praying for you and keeping my fingers crossed, I know how much it means to have others hoping for you <3 lots of love and let's get some bananas ready!

[Absolutely gutted]

Thanks everyone for your advice
Another thing that I've been contemplating about is something lawlessone pointed out earlier and I actually thought about it yesterday when I saw some of the jury members behave during the directions of the judge - I think some of them didn't even understand what the judge was saying (all the legal terms) because even I didn't udnerstand everthing he said fully (and he said a LOT) and I really tried to pay attention, I mean it was 1.5hrs long and the most important bits about the dorections were at the very end. And when I looked at the jury some were looking at the ceiling, some had a rather bored posture while listening to the judge and as I said before only very few took notes which leads me to believe that a) they couldn't be bothered or b) they didn't understand what was being said.
I think there was a big study two years ago regarding juror's understanding of a judge's directions and they found that the majority didn't fully understand the directions given to them for deliberation...If I was a jury member I would use those directions as guidelines and to remind myself of the legal terms under which I have to consider everything, not what I think I remember combined with gut feeling...I can only hope that this didn't happen with our jury (although my observations suggests otherwise)...sorry about ranting, it just seems so unfair that these things can contribute to a devastating outcome for falsely accused people...

[myhome]

HI AG - so sorry you have to wait all over again. You must both be feeling like tightly coiled springs or pressure cookiers ready to burst!!!! Keep talking to us - ranting as well - we're all thinking of you and I can wait to hit that banana icon ove and over again ....

[Saffron]

Rant away, AG!
During our JSU two of the jury members were asleep!
Hang in there. Thinking of you and sending you good luck for today x