A THREE-month drugs trial has been aborted at a cost of "millions" after the jury's forewoman admitted playing the number game Sudoku for at least half of the trial.
The District Court trial in Sydney, which cannot be identified for legal reasons, was aborted late yesterday, on the 66th day of evidence, after Judge Peter Zahra was told one of the accused men had noticed the jury playing the game.
The forewoman was brought into the court and asked by Judge Zahra to estimate for how much of the trial she had been playing the game.
"I don't know, at least half of it I'd say, I usually have it at hand," she said, explaining that "maybe four or five" others on the jury played Sudoku or other games.
She added: "Yes, and we discuss it sometimes, or the word games out of the newspaper sometimes are written down as well."
The judge asked: "Do jurors bring those games into court. And they're playing those games during the course of the evidence?"
"Yes," the forewoman replied.
(more to article if you follow the link)
I love the extra irony that it was a drugs trial scuttled by puzzle game addicts.
