Constance Marten & Mark Gordon - Baby A case

[SportMum1982]

What have I just read? What the actual fuck is wrong with the world. That poor baby. These utter idiots. Sorry I’m so so angry.

Constance Marten and partner ‘killed baby to keep her out of care’

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/24e56090-f175-4bf8-ac07-380621d9954f?shareToken=186074e86c05c4df704ef1889186acdc

I read elsewhere that the judge hasn’t finished summing up yet and will do so sometime next week!!

Not sitting Today Not on List

Not on court Lists for Monday

Not on List for Monday 29th
If I were co accused I would be appealing the inconstancy of this case and the effect it has on the Jury to come to a Just decision

I guess it must be because someone is ill?

It will be very difficult for the jury to remember the nuances of the evidence. Also none of the summing up will be as impactful as it's intended to be as it was so long ago.

I think it’s becuase the trial has overrun massively, a lot of this initially was due to Constance marten changing her legal representative a few times, but then there’s been a few other things like the old Bailey fire and a few days of jury illness. So becuase it overran the judge and legal team also have other commitments so it ends up having to fit round those as well. The same judge was on the Fiona Beale trial last week however she changed her plea to guilty last week so that should at least speed things up a bit now with regards to this case

The progress of this case has not been unusual at all.

See if it happens this week. Been a long trial for several reasons.

Court 5 today lets see if Judge finishes summing up I hope he repeats for the Jury since its 10 days since they sat need refresh

Sure has been a long time.

I just read that the jury started deliberations today and after 1/2 hour were told to come back tomorrow to continue. So, some progress.

They probably heard the judge's summing up and direction first. They'll have printed copies to help guide through what they need to be clear on in order to make their decisions on the different counts. On the jury I was on, we started deliberations shortly after lunch and we're able to decide on some of the counts pretty quickly. The rest then took several days and majority decisions.

Has there been heavy reporting restrictions put on this case? I'm surprised the trial hasn't had media coverage

I wondered that. If it does appear in the news it's pushed right down the page.

I'm half expecting a verdict this afternoon. For no other reason than the jury must be sick of this by now.

will they stay in a hotel over the week end if they dont come to a conclusion

No - that doesn't happen unless in very rare circumstances. Jurors go home at the end of the day. They have to abide by confidentiality rules and cannot discuss the case with anyone other than each other and the discussions in the jury room are private. Even after the verdicts have been given, jurors cannot reveal what was discussed.

When the jurors return for the next day of their deliberations, they cannot leave the jury room. We took fresh milk in. Tea, coffee and water were provided. There was a fridge for your lunch. There were toilets separate from the rest of the court building. The usher checked on us periodically or we went to find them if we had questions - they sat outside the jury room. It's quite a pressurised environment.

When will we hear the verdict? Does anyone know?

I am guessing they could be deliberating for some time. Not sure when anyone will know just yet.

Jury deliberations have been paused until 20th May and the jury has been sent home. The never ending trial continues.

It's another long break. I guess they will have to recap where they got up to and then continue on. This could go on for a long time.

The 11-strong jury was first sent out at 4.01pm on Tuesday to begin deliberating.
Jurors have now been asked to pause deliberations by judge Mark Lucroft KC until May 20.
Marten, 36, and partner Gordon, 49, are accused of the manslaughter of their daughter Victoria who died after they went off-grid on the South Downs.
Over the course of several weeks, the Old Bailey has heard how the couple had fled authorities in January last year in an attempt to keep their newborn child after four other children were taken into care.

Hopefully by the year 2030 we will finally have a verdict.

Imagine if for some reason these 2 feel badly treated and ask for a retrial due to the Huge gaps in the case they feel Jury came to wrong conclusion ,I always felt the Summing up was one of the most important part of a case and if all these Huge gaps in information hindered this its Not fair on both sides ,Its been a long drawn out case since day one

Wasn’t most the of initial delays due to her changing her legal team two or 3 times? Then was the old Bailey fire also that lost a couple of days outside of anyone’s control, then because it was only scheduled for 6 weeks there have pre booked arrangements thst either judge or jury had after 6 weeks. Not sure why she had to keep changing legal teams guess we’ll find out after verdict