A Cork man accused of manslaughter and other offences arising out of a road traffic incident in the city in which two teenagers died is not seeking to stop his trial but to avoid what could be called a situation of "mass bias" if the trial is held in Cork, the Supreme Court was told yesterday.
Mr David Todd, of St Michael's Road, Farranree, Cork, is facing charges arising out of the traffic incident in Cork on St Patrick's Day last year, in which Mr Trevor O'Connell and Mr Stephen Kirby died.
Last April the High Court refused to quash a decision by Judge Anthony G. Murphy refusing to transfer Mr Todd's trial from Cork to Dublin. Mr Todd's counsel had argued that his client could not be expected to get a fair trial because of the publicity the case had generated in Cork.
In a later decision, the High Court refused an application by Mr Todd for a declaration that Section 32 of the Court and Court Officers Act, 1995, providing for applications to transfer cases from another circuit to Dublin, was unconstitutional.
Yesterday Mr John Rogers SC, with Mr Brendan Grehan, for Mr Todd, appealed to the Supreme Court against both decisions.
Mr Rogers submitted his client could not expect to get a fair trial in Cork because of the public outrage regarding the incident. Because of that outrage, his client's right to a fair trial was prejudiced.
Mr Grehan said they were not seeking to make a case that his client might fare any better if granted a Dublin trial. However, Mr Todd would at least feel that he would have had the benefit of a fair trial.
He said Mr Todd has a right to be tried by an impartial jury. It was not a question of seeking to avoid the just end of one's deeds but to avoid what could be called a situation of mass bias.
Opposing the appeal, Mr John Whelan SC said it was not logical to say that, because people were outraged about the particular incident, this created an automatic prejudice.
The Chief Justice, Mr Justice Hamilton, said the court was reserving judgment.