Leifer jury begin deliberations
Summarising the case, Judge Gamble guided jurors through key principles of law, relevant issues and related evidence, and the verdicts open to the jury to return.
WITH jurors set to retire for deliberation in the trial of Malka Leifer in the County Court of Victoria, Judge Mark Gamble directed them to assess the facts before them and “ignore all other considerations, such as any feelings of sympathy or prejudice you may have for anyone involved in the case”.
Leifer, a former Adass Israel School principal, faces charges including rape, indecent assault and sexual penetration of a child aged 16 or 17 under her care or supervision.
The 56-year-old Israeli mother of eight has pleaded not guilty to all charges relating to the three complainants, sisters Elly Sapper, Nicole Meyer and Dassi Erlich.
The charges against Leifer relate to alleged offences said to have been committed between 2003 and 2007, while Leifer was principal of the Adass school.
In closing arguments, Leifer’s barrister Ian Hill asked jurors to find his client not guilty, saying there was enough inconsistency in the claims of the complainants to create reasonable doubt.
Crown prosecutor Justin Lewis told the jury that relying on testimony about events that had occurred “behind closed doors and away from prying eyes” was not uncommon in sexual abuse cases. He said Leifer had pretended affection in order to groom and abuse three vulnerable students for her sexual gratification, and that she knew their unstable home life meant “they were ripe for the picking”.
The hearing resumed on Monday after several days’ adjournment while Judge Gamble recovered from COVID-19.
Photo: Mollie McPherson/AAP Image via AP via Times of Israel
Twelve of the 15 jurors were to be chosen by ballot to make their deliberation.
Summarising the case, Judge Gamble guided jurors through key principles of law, relevant issues and related evidence, and the verdicts open to the jury to return.
He emphasised that the jury had to find that for each of the 27 charges against Leifer, including 10 counts of rape, it had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
“You must dispassionately weigh the evidence, logically and with an open mind, not according to your passion or feelings,” he said, urging jurors not to base their decision-making “on any information obtained outside this courtroom”.
He directed the jury that it can use complaints heard in court “as evidence in the case” but also to assess the credibility of the complainant.
Judge Gamble summarised contrasting interpretations presented by the prosecution and defence of what jurors could conclude from any inconsistency of recall by the three complainants.
The judge emphasised there was “no typical, proper or normal response to a sexual offence” by an alleged victim. “You must decide the case on the evidence before you, and not on the basis of assumptions that might be made about how a person may or may not behave,” he directed.
The trial is continuing.
comments