THE JURY in the trial of former Clare GP Paschal Carmody will this morning resume its deliberations. The jury was sent to an Ennis hotel yesterday evening after failing to reach a unanimous verdict following three hours of deliberations.
Mr Carmody (60), Ballycuggeran, Killaloe, denies 25 charges of obtaining €80,172 from six terminally ill cancer patients and their families by deception between September 2001 and October 2002.
Judge Rory McCabe took more than three hours to sum up the case yesterday before the jury of eight men and three women retired at 3.15pm to start their deliberations.
The jury returned on two occasions - to ask who prescribed the Photosynthesiser drug to the late JJ Gallagher and to ask for a copy of a letter from Mr Carmody's wife, Frieda, to Dr Bill Porter, who administered the photodynamic therapy (PDT) treatment.
Judge McCabe said he would not be giving a copy of the letter to the jury as it was the subject of legal discussion during the case and it was decided that the contents of the letter should be disregarded.
In his charge yesterday, Judge McCabe directed the jury to return a not guilty verdict on eight of the charges relating to three of the patients now all dead: Josephine Durkin, Beechgrove, Lucan, Co Dublin; Mary O'Connor originally from Mill Street, Cork, but later of the UK; and Karen Kurvink with an address in the Netherlands.
Judge McCabe said the prosecution accepted that there was insufficient evidence for those charges to proceed.
The remaining 17 charges relate to John Sheridan, Kells, Co Kilkenny, JJ Gallagher, Kingswood, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, and Conor O'Sullivan (14), Granite Lodge, Gorey, Co Wexford, who have all since died. Relatives of all three were in court yesterday to await the outcome.
Judge McCabe told the jury to consider the case very carefully and each charge individually. He urged the jurors to use their common sense in reaching their verdict and to leave aside any sympathy or criticism they may have for anyone in the course of the trial.
He said that the jurors had spent a lot of time hearing the evidence and they may consider some of it credible and some of it not credible. "If you have a reasonable doubt on the charges, then you must acquit."
He said the time to have any misgivings was in the jury room. "Don't keep your mouth shut and a play a full part in the process."
"To convict an innocent person would be very wrong. Equally, it would be wrong to acquit a person where there is no reasonable doubt as to a person's guilt."
He added: "You must not be concerned with the consequences of your verdict. That is a matter for me."
He directed told the jury to come back with a unanimous verdict. "If you can't after a considerable time, I'll give you further direction."
After legal submissions, Judge McCabe recalled the jury at 3.40pm.
He said that in relation to the evidence of Dr Colin Hopper, he had said it was "miraculous" the condition of one of Mr Carmody's patients whom he examined, rather than it being put to him that the condition was "miraculous".
The judge also said that in relation to the evidence of Prof Neville Krasner, the professor had said that he wanted to know what was involved in the treatment being given by Mr Carmody to his patients, as it could be used to keep his own patients alive.
