Arabic version: إعلان بطلان محاكمة احتيال في كيب يورك
According to ABC News, a Queensland jury was discharged and the fraud trial of Cape York Peninsula traditional owner Larry Joe Woosup was declared a mistrial after irregularities involving evidence provided to jurors and the handling of their mobile phones.
Ankumuthi traditional owner Mr Woosup has pleaded not guilty to two aggravated counts of fraud. Prosecutors alleged he misused mining royalties in 2014. His week-long trial in Cairns District Court ended after six days of evidence, statements and summaries, a little more than two hours after the jury retired to deliberate.
A juror raised concerns after noticing redacted information connected with an exhibit in an evidence folder. Judge Joshua Treviño KC said examination found another juror’s working copy of the evidence was also irregular. He said the material created a risk of unfair prejudice to the defendant and may have been before jurors from the start of the trial.
The judge said the Crown was responsible for preparing the documents and ensuring the copies supplied to jurors matched those tendered in court. He said jurors had potentially deliberated on documents and material that were not evidence, describing the issue as a significant irregularity that could not be cured.
Judge Treviño also said the jury’s phones were not collected when members retired at 1.43pm on Monday, as would normally occur. The issue was realised an hour later. Crown prosecutor Christian Peters took responsibility for the irregular evidence copies. Mr Woosup’s matter was adjourned and will return to Cairns District Court for mention on September 28.
