Jury selection begins in trial of former Anglo Irish executives

Jury selection began this morning for the upcoming trial of three former Anglo Irish Bank executives.

Sean FitzPatrick (64), of Whitshed Road, Greystones, Co Wicklow; William McAteer (62), of Auburn Villas, Rathgar, Dublin; and Pat Whelan (50), of Coast Road, Malahide, Dublin, have been charged with 16 counts of providing unlawful financial assistance to individuals in July 2008 to buy shares in the bank. They are expected to enter not guilty pleas before the trial begins.

The trial is scheduled to begin in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday and is expected to last between three and six months.

Empanelling
In light of the anticipated duration – which could make it the longest criminal trial in Irish history – some 1,500 jury summonses have been issued by the Courts Service, with the expectation that 500 people will attend for the jury empanelling.

Fifteen jurors will be selected for the trial, as against the standard 12, a measure permitted in lengthy trials under an amendment to the 1976 Juries Act, passed last year.

Although only 12 will retire to deliberate on a verdict, three substitutes will be present throughout the trial should a juror be unable to continue.

Given the anticipated level of public interest, the Courts Service has said it will turn a vacant courtroom at the Criminal Courts of Justice complex into an overflow viewing room for the trial. On most days, members of the public will be able to watch proceedings by video link in Court One, which is usually used as a District Court.

While the public will be admitted to the main courtroom, a large portion of the available space will be taken up by assigned seating for the legal teams and the media.

The trial, to be heard before Judge Martin Nolan, will involve vast amounts of evidence. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has previously heard that the case involves 24 million documents, including about 800 witness statements.

The evidence will be organised during the trial using a computer system.

Documents will be displayed on screens throughout the court, while jurors will be given laptops so they can view the relevant documents electronically rather than handling folders and boxes.