Judges, juries and prejudicial publicity: Lessons from empirical legal scholarship

Judges, juries and prejudicial publicity: Lessons from empirical legal scholarship – by Rebecca McEwen; John Eldridge

In April 2014, former ‘Hey Dad!’ star Robert Hughes stood trial in the NSW District Court charged with the commission of serious sexual offences. After the jury delivered a guilty verdict, Greg Walsh, Hughes’ lawyer, remarked that ‘having regard to the enormous extent and prejudicial nature of the publicity it was virtually impossible to get a fair trial’. Judge Zhara, who presided over the trial, refused an application by Hughes to have the jury discharged on the basis of this publicity.

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Judges, juries and prejudicial publicity: Lessons from empirical legal scholarship