Jury struggles in trial fitness deliberation of Bourke St Mall rampage accused killer Dimitrious Gargasoulas
THE jury considering whether Dimitrious Gargasoulas — accused of running people down in Bourke St Mall, killing six — is fit to stand trial, has returned after days of deliberation.
Law & Order
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THE jury has been unable to reach a decision on whether alleged Bourke St killer Dimitrious Gargasoulas is fit to stand trial.
The 12-person jury has been discharged and the case will be reheard by a different jury.
The jury has been trying to reach a decision since Monday.
Justice Lex Lasry, who retires from the bench at midnight, thanked the jury for their “heroic effort”.
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“It’s a significant case for obvious reasons,” Justice Lasry said. “It’s a trying case as well.”
The matter will be reheard by a different jury and judge and will return to court next month.
Earlier this week the jury asked Justice Lex Lasry for guidance, telling him they could not come to a unanimous decision.
Justice Lasry told the jury members to persevere before sending them home for the night.
The jury, eight men and four women, must unanimously decide whether Gargasoulas is fit to stand trial on six counts of murder and 28 counts of attempted murder over the January 2017 incident.
Gargasoulas is accused of running people down in Bourke St Mall, killing six and injuring dozens of others.
Supreme Court judge Lex Lasry yesterday directed the jury to ignore all “feelings of sympathy or prejudice you might have for anybody in this case”.
“You shouldn’t be influenced by what happened on that day,” Justice Lasry said.
Under Victorian law accused persons are presumed fit to stand trial unless a jury is convinced they are unable to:
UNDERSTAND the nature of the charge,
ENTER a plea,
EXERCISE their right to veto a jury member,
UNDERSTAND the nature of the trial, including the roles played by the judge, jury and counsel,
FOLLOW the course of the trial,
UNDERSTAND the substantial effect of evidence in the case or
INSTRUCT counsel and make their version of events known to the court.
To find him unfit for trial the jury must be convinced on the balance of probabilities that Gargasoulas is unable to meet one or more of those minimum standards.
Justice Lasry said the standard of proof was less than that required in a criminal proceeding where a jury must be convinced beyond reasonable doubt.
In this case they must only find that it is “more likely than not” that Gargasoulas is unable to meet one of the standards.
“Your task is to determine whether he is fit or unfit to stand trial. This is the only question you will be asked to answer,” Justice Lasry said.
Whether or not Gargasoulas committed the offences is not something the jury need consider.
Medical experts are divided in their opinion about Gargasoulas’ mental state.
The jury has been told that Gargasoulas suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and delusions but understood the legal process.
But there has also been evidence that Gargasoulas was fit to stand trial, and had been making rational decisions about pleading not guilty by reason of mental impairment to receive the benefit of being held in a hospital rather than prison.
Prosecutor Andrew Tinney, SC, told the jury that under the law the onus fell on Gargasoulas’s lawyers to establish that he was unfit to face trial.
“The prosecution challenge the defence contention that the accused is unfit … The fact that he suffers an illness does not mean he is not fit to stand trial,” he said.
Dr Theo Alexander, for Gargasoulas, said he should be declared unfit.
Dr Alexander said though “mental illness was not in its self sufficient” to avoid a trial, Gargasoulas was unfit because he was unable to enter a plea or understand the evidence against him and could not properly instruct his lawyers.
“Mr Gargasoulas is, mentally speaking, not a well man,” he said.