A jury has heard conflicting claims from the two sides in the trial of a Dublin man, Mr John Diver, who is accused of murdering his wife.
Counsel for the DPP argued that Mr Diver had both motive and opportunity and the evidence was there to convict him, while the defence said the prosecution's case was based on "a simple mathematical formula of dead body plus surviving spouse equals guilty surviving spouse".
Mr Diver (60) has denied murdering his wife Geraldine (42), who was found strangled in her car outside Buckley's builders providers on Robinhood Road, Clondalkin, on December 2nd, 1996. The couple lived with their two children at Kilnamanagh Road, Walkinstown, Dublin.
On Monday, the children, a 13year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl, gave evidence for the defence. Yesterday in the Central Criminal Court, the prosecution lawyer Mr Shane Murphy SC told the jury the children's evidence was "inconsistent" and was not capable of overturning other prosecution evidence in the trial.
However, defence lawyer Mr Barry White SC said Mr Murphy had "glibly dismissed" the children's evidence. He alleged the State had looked at the girl's evidence, and said, "We are not going to like what she says, so we will ignore her."
"The State's attitude has been one of we'll pick what suits us and we'll ignore what doesn't."
Mr Murphy said the jury should consider Mr Diver's denial that he knew his wife had a boyfriend. He said the evidence suggested Mrs Diver was pursuing the new relationship "with particular determination" and that she intended to move in with her lover, Ray Roche.
"The separation of the family unit was something that was threatened, that was known and that was imminent," he said.
Mr White said the prosecution allegation that Mr Diver rang his wife on the night she was last seen and said something that caused her to change her plans was "an invitation to speculate".
The jury will retire to consider its verdict.