May 21, 2008

Jury watch: Gwaze acquitted

4.25pm: Jury?found George Gwaze not guilty on all charges and he was discharged.

4.15pm: Jury signalled it was returning with its verdicts.

3.15pm: Jury got some fresh air with a short collective walk around the block, accompanied by court staff.

2.15pm: By this time, the jury had returned to the jury room to continue its deliberations.

1pm: The jury left the Court House to have lunch together at a restaurant nearby.

11.20am: The jury retired to consider its verdict.

9.30am: Justice Chisholm began his summing up for the jury in the trial of George Evans Gwaze on charges of sexually violating and murdering 10-year-old Charlene Makaza, his niece who lived as part of his household in Christchurch, in January 2007. The trial in the High Court in Christchurch?is in its fourth week.