Australian Juror gets dismissed for snoring in court during murder trial

A juror in Australia was recently dismissed after being caught asleep and snoring in court. The woman, who has not been named, was a member of a jury of 15 hearing a three-month long murder trial. Just as the prosecution case neared its conclusion, New South Wales Supreme court Justice Peter Hamill noticed that the juror "was clearly asleep for some period of time." Further to this, court staff said they could clearly hear the female jury member snoring.

The decision to dismiss the juror was finalised on November 3, but only came to surface on Wednesday after the jury returned their verdicts.

According to a report on The Independent, the female juror was said to have dozed off in court in four separate occasions. This was an ongoing occurrence during the case hearing of a murder orchestrated by a Sydney drug gang that took the life of a bystander in February 2017. The woman's snoring was heard at the time when evidence from police investigators was being cross-examined as well as during the first part of the prosecutor's closing address.

Although the judge did not hear the actual snoring, a nearby juror was aware of the problem.

"I made those observations because the fact of their somnolence was brought to my attention by members of my staff."

"Yesterday, members of my staff again drew my attention to the juror and each of them could not only see that they appeared to be asleep, but were of the view that they could hear them snoring," Justice Hamill said.

"The juror's inability to remain awake... caused me to conclude that there is a reason affecting the juror's ability to perform the functions of a juror," Justice Hamill said.

After the said juror was told her services would no longer be needed in court, she disclosed medical reasons that caused her sleepiness.

"It should be recorded, without reference to private information, that the juror was diligent and attentive until the last week or so of the trial, and their inability to remain awake was understandable and beyond their control," Justice Hamill stated.

As for the murder trial, the court came to a verdict that found three men guilty of murdering Chinese national Qin Wu 37, and shooting with intent to kill Jun Jia on February 1, 2017.

The accused will be handed their sentences next year.