Aaron Brady challenges murder conviction over Covid jury fears

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Aaron Brady’s appeal against his murder conviction was heard at the Court of Appeal on 4 October 2023, when his lawyer argued that Covid-19 fears may have affected the jury’s deliberations.

In August 2020, a Central Criminal Court jury found Brady guilty by an 11-to-one majority of murdering Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe. The detective was shot during a robbery at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgen, Co Louth, on 25 January 2013. Brady received a life sentence with a minimum of 40 years for murder and a concurrent 14-year sentence for robbery.

Opening the appeal, Michael O’Higgins SC argued that the trial should not have continued during the pandemic and that trial judge Mr Justice Michael White should have discharged the jury. He said it was plausible that jurors feared for their own lives or those of people close to them, affecting their deliberations.

When presiding judge Mr Justice John Edwards asked whether there was evidence that the jury felt under improper pressure, O’Higgins said there was none.

For the Director of Public Prosecutions, Brendan Grehan SC said there was no evidence that jurors felt coerced to attend court and defended the trial judge’s handling of the changing public health situation. He said the jury had attended until 4 March 2020 and did not return until 6 May, while legal issues were dealt with in its absence.

The six-day appeal hearing was before Mr Justice Edwards, Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy and Ms Justice Tara Burns.