THE trial of former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank and two former Anglo executives will be “the first in the history of the State” to have 15 jurors, the Dublin Criminal Court heard today.
Paul O’Higgins senior counsel for the State told the members of the jury that recent legislation allowed for a greater number of jurors to be chosen in lengthy cases where the trial could collapse if two or more members “get sick” or “die.”
Seán FitzPatrick, 65, from Greystones in Co Wicklow; Patrick Whelan, 51, of Malahide in Dublin and William McAteer, 62, of Rathmines have been charged with providing unlawful financial assistance to 16 people to buy shares in Anglo, in July 2008.
The three men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The start of the trial was delayed this morning after one member of the jury sworn in last Friday produced a letter to presiding Judge Martin Nolan.
Judge Nolan excused the juror from service after reading the letter and after almost one hour called upon a replacement juror.
Fitzpatrick, Whelan and McAteer were then re-arraigned before the new jury, of which eight are women and seven men.
In his opening statement, Mr O’Higgins said that a public ballot would take place at the end of the evidence, and 12 jurors would be selected to consider the case and reach a verdict.
He acknowledged that this may be "frustrating" to the three remaining jurors who would have contributed a significant amount of time to the trial.
"Obviously every one of you maybe, and I suppose every one of you on the balance of chance, will be among the 12 to retire but three won't and that may be a very frustrating thing for those who don't, but maybe it will be a liberating thing for those who don't," he said.
“You are the 15 judges for every matter of fact in this case.”
He also explained the nature of a company and the concept of how shares work.
“Companies are structures which can do great good and considerable damage at times,” he said.
“It is a vital thing that a company’s shares are dealt with in the way they should be and if they are not, that can amount to a criminal offence.”
The list of potential witnesses includes Seán Quinn snr and other members of his family, the 10 other borrowers mentioned in the charges and 42 gardaí.
The case is one of the biggest and most complex in Ireland's history, involving 24 million documents and including about 800 witness statements.
At the time of the alleged offences, Mr FitzPatrick was chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, Mr McAteer was finance director and chief risk officer and Mr Whelan was managing director of lending in Ireland.
It is estimated that completion of the trial will be in May. It will sit between 10.30am and 4pm daily.
