The trial of accused murderer Rosemary Priscilla Mackie has concluded with a hung jury.
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On Tuesday, February 20, the jury deliberating the case informed the presiding NSW Supreme Court Judge Justice Megan Latham they could not reach a unanimous decision or a majority verdict.
Justice Latham said the jury’s inability to come to a conclusion constituted a fairly compelling case to grant Mackie bail.
The defense foreshadowed an application of bail would be submitted in next few weeks and felt confident it would be approved considering the circumstances of the trial.
Before her trial, Mackie was held for two years and two months in Silverwater prison in Sydney.
A unanimous decision required all 12 jurors to agree on a verdict. A majority verdict requires agreement among at least 11 members of the jury.
Mackie, 54, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Marnie-Lee Cave, 26, who died from strangulation, before her body was thrown off Handcocks Bridge at Mogareeka in October, 2015.
The jury of four women and eight men came to their conclusion at 12.30pm on Tuesday after three weeks of hearing evidence in Bega Court House.
They conceded there was no reasonable prospect they could reach a view representative of the whole jury.
Justice Latham said the hung jury illustrated the “equivocation” with which the Crown’s case could be regarded.
Because the jury had deliberated all evidence and could not come to a conclusion, Justice Latham had no option but to discharge them.
“I appreciate the attention you have given to this trial, but I must discharge you,” she said in court.
“I want to add you have not failed in your task.
“The accused has been judged by her peers and there is no power for me to put any charge on the accused, that is the way it should be.”
In the morning prior to their dismissal, the jury submitted questions to the court to assist in their deliberations.
They sought clarification on the validity of Mackie’s admissions to an undercover operative and the definition of a “joint criminal enterprise”, or the agreement between one or more people to commit a crime.
Justice Latham said parts of what Mackie told the operative were objectively false, but it was not the responsibility of the Crown to explain why she said these things.
The jury was reminded that if they entertained doubt about the admissions as a whole, they could not find Mackie guilty.
Additionally, if they thought Mackie’s knowledge of the crime was derived from other sources, they could not be satisfied by the reliability of the evidence sourced through the operative.
Justice Latham said placing Mackie at the crime scene on the evening of the murder was an essential step to determining joint criminal enterprise.
She said it was a matter of common sense that Mackie could not participate in a murder if she wasn't there, and if the jury doubted her presence at the time of the murder, they could not convict her.
Mackie appeared relaxed ahead of the announcement of the hung jury, chatting with police, correctional services and her legal team and smiling at others in the courtroom.
She received words of support from those nearby as she was escorted from the dock after the jury was dismissed.