WTF JURY VERDICT

UNIQUE JURY VERDICT

Dubbo District Court

Regina -v - Palmertson

This jury verdict is from the annals of the history of criminal law in the State of New South Wales Australia.  The trial to which the verdict pertain took place well over 120 years ago during the regain of Queen Victoria in Dubbo District Court.  Dubbo is some 400 kilometer Northwest of Sydney. Nowadays Dubbo is thriving centre for agriculture and beef and farm machinery.

The jury consisted of 12 people (7 men, 5 women) selected from a panel of jurors.  The accused was a man named Palmertson.  The indictment alleges that Palmertson stole a healthy milking cow. If convicted, Palmertson custodial faced custodial sentence up to 10 year penal servitude.  

After a four days trial and addresses by the prosecutor and defence counsel the trial judge summed up the evidence to the jury and asked them to deliberate and come to a verdict of either Mr Palmertson guilty of the offence as charged in the indictment or not guilty.  Some four hours later the jury came back to Court with a verdict:

Judge’ Associate:    ‘Mr foreman has the jury reached a verdict?’

Jury Foreman:        ‘We have Your Honour’

Judge’ Associate:    ‘Do you find the accused guilty as charged?’

Jury Foreman:        ‘We find the accused not guilty if he returns the cow’

Trial Judge:        ‘This is the most bizarre verdict I have ever heard in my many years on the Bench.  It is not a verdict.  You go back to your deliberation and come up with a verdict of either ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty as charged’.

The trial judge again gave the jury brief summing up of the evidence and the elements of the offence to which they need to be satisfied and sent them on their way back to the jury room to deliberate and come up with guilty or not guilty verdict.

Within an hour of being addresse

d by the judge the jury came back with a verdict:

Judge’ Associate:    ‘Mr foreman has the jury reached a verdict?’

Jury Foreman:        ‘We have Your Honour’

Judge’ Associate:    ‘Do you find the accused guilty as charged?’

Jury Foreman:        ‘We find the accused not guilty and he can keep the cow!’