R v Charbaji, Azam; Charbaji, Haysem; Jamieson, Lexy May (No 4)

In the case of R v Charbaji, Azam; Charbaji, Haysem; Jamieson, Lexy May (No 4), the defendants were on trial for various charges including murder. The dispute arose during the trial when a juror discovered that a witness, CL, was known to him as a work colleague. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The legal issues that the court had to address were whether the juror should be discharged, if the jury should continue with 11 jurors, and if a separate trial should be ordered for two of the accused.

The court found that the juror's prior acquaintance with the witness created a reasonable apprehension that he could not bring an unbiased or unprejudiced mind to the trial. Consequently, the juror was discharged, and the trial proceeded with 11 jurors. The court declined to order a separate trial for the two accused charged with murder, as it was deemed inappropriate at that stage of the proceedings. The witness, CL, was the last witness in the Crown case and was only relevant to the third accused, who was charged as an accessory after the fact.

The final orders of the court included the discharge of the juror, continuation of the trial with 11 jurors, and refusal of the application for a separate trial for two of the accused. The trial proceeded with the remaining 11 jurors, and the court did not grant the application for a separate trial at that stage in the proceedings.