No decision yet after stalemate assault trial
The Director of Public Prosecutions was to decide whether a retrial would take place with a new jury.
Last week, a jury was dismissed after failing to reach a verdict following a three-day assault trial in Waterford.
The hung jury of seven men and five women disagreed over the fate of Getachew Tela (40), of 12 Broad Street, Waterford, who is accused of assaulting a woman with a kitchen knife at his flat in February 2023.
The complainant alleges that during the course of a dispute, Tela held a knife up to her neck and cut into her skin.
Tela, however, claims that the complainant put the knife to her own neck in an act of self-harm.
The jury were at odds, and after two hours of deliberation they requested to listen back to the entire audio recording of the complainant’s evidence.
Judge Eugene O’Kelly permitted the request and asked that a majority decision be made instead of a unanimous one.
After approximately four hours of deliberation, the jury informed Judge O’Kelly that they were in disagreement over a verdict.
The jury were dismissed and the Director of Public Prosecutions was to decide whether a retrial would take place with a new jury.
At Waterford Circuit Court this week, Judge O’Kelly was updated on the case’s status in relation to the DPP.
He was informed that the State are still awaiting instructions on the matter.
The case will now be pushed back to March 3 for mention.
Read about the full trial HERE
