Rape defence tried to have jury dismissed due to late of white men over 40

A Queensland court has been asked to dismiss a jury in a rape trial because it did not contain any white men over 40.

The defence claimed the jury was not representative enough, (File picture)

A Queensland court was asked to dismiss a jury empanelled in a rape trial because it did not contain any white men over the age of 40.

The unusual application was made last month at the beginning of the trial of a 22-year-old man charged with one count of rape.

In Queensland criminal trials, the prosecution and defence are each entitled to eight peremptory challenges in the selection of jurors.

When a juror is challenged by either party, they return to the jury pool rather than being empanelled.

In a decision published this week, Judge Michael Rackemann said lawyers for the defendant argued the prosecutor’s use of standby powers meant the jury empanelled in the rape trial “resulted in a jury composition that may cause the trial to be, or appear to be, unfair”.

“The basis of the application is that the exercise of the power to stand-by a juror has been exercised in such a way that, as a result, the jury does not have any white male over the age of 40, such potential jurors, as were selected, answering that description having been stood by,” Judge Rackemann said.

“The prosecutor, for his part, denied that was the result of any specific tactic on his part.”

Judge Rackemann said the jury empanelled in the case was diverse in terms of gender, age and background.

He noted the defendant, who was facing trial in the Brisbane District Court, was a young man not over the age of 40.

“I do not think that a jury needs to comprise every possible demographic in order to be, or to be seen to be, fair, and I do not regard the way in which the stand-by power has been exercised in this case, as resulting in a jury of a composition that may cause the trial to be, or appear to be, unfair,” Judge Rackemann said.

He dismissed the application brought by the defence and the trial went ahead over three days from July 17.

On July 21, the defendant was found not guilty of the rape that was alleged to have been committed in October 2020, and was discharged.