Jury will consider verdict after Mr Justice Tony Hunt completes his charge
Jozef Puska: denies murder of Ashling Murphy, who was killed while exercising along a canal walkway in Tullamore, Co Offaly, on January 12th 2022. Image: Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire
The judge said “all sorts of reasons exist for lies” and the jury must consider “the whole panoply of reasons” why lies are told.Ashling Murphy murder trial: No evidence that admission by accused was related to the effects of any drug, jury toldThe jury must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the only tenable view in relation to a lie is a guilty view, he said.
The jury of nine men and three women heard evidence over 13 days from 62 witnesses and from Mr Puska. Addressing the confession evidence, the judge said he did not think anyone was saying that Mr Puska had not said what he said in hospital on January 14th and the jury must decide whether what was said was true.
The defence expert had suggested that best practice is to have an assessment of a patient’s fitness and that kind of process was not carried out in this case. Gardaí went ahead and did what they did and the jury must decide if there is any reasonable doubt about the product of their efforts, he said. A hospital administrator had given evidence, in terms of the availability of medics, it was a Friday night, the judge added.
The evidence was Mr Puska continued talking after making the admissions and expressed concern about the safety of his family and had said he did it but did not intend to do it, Mr Justice Hunt said. Those are also matters to take into account when considering the issue of the reliability of the admissions, he said.
The defence had raised the fact another man had been detained and questioned on January 12th in connection with Ms Murphy’s murder, the judge noted. That man was released without charge and is not on trial, he said.
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