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

im not 100% sure but when I read it I got the impression the majority verdict direction had been given around lunchtime and then jury sat for the remainder of afternoon before being released for two weeks. So if 9 out of 10 had already been in agreement and it was one stopping a decision then once the judge gave the majority verdict direction they’d have been able to return a verdict almost immediately. The fact they didn’t indicates agreement either way currently is less than 9 out of 10.

That's exactly what happened in the case I was on the jury for. The jury has to give its verdicts in open court though.

It makes sense to deal with the various charges piecemeal because there will be some where it is clear the jurors agree and then you concentrate on the less straightforward charges. If you save all the verdicts to the end there's also a risk of hashing over old ground plus creating confusion.

As the jury is already down to 10 people I believe those 10 now need to reach unanimous verdicts.

Looks as though the judge is giving them as much time as possible to reach a consensus.

I read in The Independent that the judge has said they can have a majority verdict of 9 :1.

Hopefully, following the latest direction, the case can move on! Whatever happens I am sure there will be drama and appeals, though a verdict of some sort ought to be forthcoming once they deliberate again? Must be exhausting for the jurors.

No the judge gave direction yesterday he will now accept a majority verdict of 9 out of 10

Okay, thanks for that, good to know.

Does the trial re-commence today for the jury to continue their deliberations?

Yes at last Jury are back in court !! this case is terrible 6 months Jury must have lost the will to Live I know I would have

@karenR1662 I agree with you, it must be hard for the jury.

I know it’s really frowned upon to comment on SPAG on here and despite it being my RL job I rarely do. Sorry to say @karenR1662 but lack of punctuation really interferes with your messages.

Whats SPAG !!
punctuation really interferes with your messages.What a Joke who cares if I have a full stop or a capital Letter I have Limited Capacity You writing in Double Dutch dont help either because you are to Lazy to try and write a few words !!
If you cannot say anything Nice dont respond just to be Nasty

https://news.sky.com/story/jury-in-trial-of-constance-marten-and-mark-gordon-has-been-dismissed-13145367

I can’t believe it’s collapsed. Well, in a way I can, it was all so tentative and stop start. Nightmare, will the CPS press forward for a new trial?

Blimey - I was not expecting that.

What happens now? Re-trial or is that it ? 😳

Wow, just saw this news on the BBC that jury has been discharged. There was mention of a re-trial.

Do this mean that the couple remain in remand or are free to go?

Wow waiting for updates

This is terrible. This selfish pair caused the death of their newborn. There must be a re-trial.

There is no "must" about it, although the expectation is that in the case of the first failure to reach a verdict there will be a re-trial. If the second fails, there is usually no third.

The prosecution will need to re-consider their case and think about whether there is any realistic prospect of securing a conviction with a retrial. They will need to think about the merits of the case, the public interest, and what the stumbling blocks for the jury were in the first trial.

Given the lack of evidence around the exact circumstances of Victoria's death, this was always going to be extremely difficult, and you can't keep re-trying people until you get the result you want. You need to bring a more convincing case, which will usually mean new evidence.

It’s difficult. On the one hand it’s really not in the public interest to never reach a conclusion on a manslaughter charge; on the other, people who don’t yet know they might be called for jury service will be quite legitimately reading about and discussing all available information about the case.

There are better uses for a prison cell than Marten.

Gordon’s a rapist who served a sentence ages ago. Not now on the same charge, but whether or not the public would benefit from him being locked up is moot.

Hope they go abroad.

I was waiting for this
All the stop start mess was a shambles from start to finish ,
There was no continuity in this case I feel so sorry for this Jury and as for asking Judge direction so many times because they possibly couldn't remember what was said Long gaps in the case ,
If they walk because of this its disgusting Both well guilty of at least 3 of these charges and she goes free to have more Kids Just Not in this country it would be Laughable if it was Not so Sad for these children

If there is a retrial Its got to be done Properly No stop starts no Months on end ,The Jury were only deliberating for 72 hours in total which is Not extensive time this had taken 6 months and ends like this !!

Just read on the BBC that the prosecution will now have to consider whether to seek a retrial.

@Cazpar agree with you. No matter what any of us think about their guilt, legal process has to happen.

Agree that it is very difficult for a jury to have reached a majority decision.

They were reckless with their baby's life but its what can be proved beyond reasonable doubt in terms of the law and the evidence. Each member of the jury has to be satisfied as to there being intent, and to feel confident to discriminate between, for example, accident or neglect or willful act of murder. No cause of death could be established.

The law is there for good reason, even if we think defendants are crazy or bad.
Perhaps especially when this is the case.

I am not defending their actions.

But I would not like to be on the jury and make the calls they are asked to in cases like this.