Judge throws out ‘unfair’ all-male jury in child sex trial
THE jury in a sex assault case has been discharged before even being sworn in because all 12 members were men and the judge did not believe they were representative of the community.
NSW
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EXCLUSIVE: The jury in a sex assault case has been discharged before even being sworn in because all 12 members were men and the judge did not believe they were representative of the community.
District Court Judge Donna Woodburne said the law gave her the right to intervene if she thought that the trial might appear to be “unfair” because of the make-up of the jury.
Of more than 1000 jury trials heard every year in the District Court alone, this is believed to be the first time a jury has been dismissed because of gender. Jurors were chosen as usual at random from a panel of both men and women.
They were to sit on the trial of a 78-year-old man charged with 14 counts of raping and indecently assaulting his partner’s granddaughter when she was aged just seven and eight.
“It appears to the court that the composition of the jury isn’t going to be representative of the community,” Judge Woodburne (pictured), a former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, said. While women have been able to sit on a jury since 1947, single-sex juries are not prohibited by law. However, the Act does state a judge may “discharge the jury … if in the opinion of the judge (it) has resulted in a jury whose composition is such that the trial might appear to be unfair”.
Defence barrister Kellie Stares said the situation was the first she had encountered.
Another jury containing both men and women was sworn in on the same day late last month and convicted the man on 12 of the 14 offences. He was remanded in custody for sentence on December 14.
NSW Bar Association president Arthur Moses SC said the gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation of a juror would not determine if the defendant got a fair trial, but said he could not comment on the specifics of this case.
However, he did say the High Court had “made it clear that what makes a jury representative is that jurors are selected at random”.
Mr Moses said whether a jury is representative should not generally be considered “otherwise a jury could be challenged … based on subjective views depending on the background of the accused or the nature of a crime”.
A spokeswoman said Judge Woodburne had no comment.