A CO CAVAN man walked free from the Central Criminal Court yesterday after he was acquitted of the murder of his daughter's boyfriend and father of her two children.
Mr Patrick Farrelly smiled and shook hands with gardai as the jury returned their unanimous verdict in his trial after 2 1/2 hours deliberation.
The five women and seven men found Mr Farrelly (45), of Double Cottage, Ryefield, Virginia, Co Cavan, not guilty of the murder of Mr Terry Geraghty (25), from Mount Dutton, Oldcastle, Co Meath, at Ryefield on November 27th 1993
The three day trial was told Mr Geraghty died almost instantly after he sustained a severe injury from a 16 bore shotgun which was discharged up to eight feet away from him outside the accused man's home in the early hours of November 27th, 1993.
The State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, concluded Mr Geraghty died from haemotoma due to laceration of the aorta and the pulmonary trunk caused by a single shotgun wound discharged into the front of his chest.
Dr Harbison said the deceased man's blood alcohol level would have induced behavioural changes and some loss of co ordination of bodily movements. It could also have diminished his inhibitions, explain menacing behaviour and induced a combination of aggression and bravado.
The jury retired to consider its verdict at 2.20 p.m. yesterday and at 4.35 p.m. the foreman asked the judge to outline what was meant by the phrase "reasonable doubt". Mr Justice Moriarty explained the concept of reasonable doubt and the jury retired again.
It returned with its unanimous not guilty verdict just minutes later. Some members of the jury smiled at the defendant as the verdict was read.
Mr Justice Moriarty thanked the jurors for their service in the "very tragic" case. He discharged Mr Farrelly and told him he should be very slow to return to firearms, if at all. Mr Farrelly nodded in assent several times.
Mr Farrelly instructed his counsel to surrender the firearms in the case to gardai and the judge made an order to that effect.
In his charge to the jury yesterday, Mr Justice Moriarty described the case as "particularly tragic".
He said there were three verdicts open - guilty of murder, not guilty of murder or not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
He said the crucial issue the jury had to decide was whether a shotgun in the possession of Mr Farrelly at the time of the incident was discharged accidentally or deliberately.
The judge said Garda ballistics expert Det Sgt Seamus Quinn had agreed with the defence that the shotgun was in a dangerous condition because parts of the stock had broken and had agreed there was a not insignificant risk of accidental discharge.
Mr Justice Moriarty told the jury that, before they could return a murder verdict, they had to be "very sure indeed" that they could rule out all the explanations consistent with a verdict less than murder.
In a statement to gardai, Mr Farrelly said he never intended to shoot Mr Geraghty but took "full responsibility" for it.
Mr Farrelly said his son Packie, who has since died, had told gardai he had shot Mr Geraghty but this was not true. "He probably thought he was doing good for me but there is no way I could live with that," the accused man said.
The trial was told Mr Geraghty had been calling to Mr Farrelly's home to see his daughter Olivia for the three years prior to his death. Ms Farrelly had a daughter, Joy, by him and was pregnant again in November 1993.
Mr Farrelly told gardai that Mr Geraghty called regularly to his home when he was drunk and would be there until 3, 4 and 5 a.m. "I never met anybody as bad in all my life," Mr Farrelly said. "It was always a routine of violence and drink aid he nearly choked my wife once.
In the statement Mr Farrelly outlined the events which led to his shotgun being discharged outside his home in the early hours of November 27th, 1993.
He had taken a shotgun from his bedroom and loaded it when Mr Geraghty called to his home drunk and shouting in the early hours of that day.
"Terry was roaring and cursing at the gate," he said. He had pointed the stock of the gun at him and "gave him a tip of the stock of the gun on the shoulder. Olivia was beside him then with her arm around him. I also hit her with the stock slightly as I hit Terry.
"He went berserk then altogether. I thought I might have stunned him into reality. He went across the road calling me a bastard. I thought he had a knife.
"I headed back next the door of the house and told him I would get the guards to have him removed... I was blind with annoyance and worry. I was going to leave the gun within and get someone to go next door and ring the guards. I turned round then just before I went in and Terry had the gate open and was halfway between the piers.
"I never put the gun to my shoulder but I turned round and the next thing I heard was the shot. I take full responsibility for it. I just remember seeing Terry staggering back from the gate and staggering across the road.
"I found the gun kicking in my hand and all. I cannot remember, if I pulled the trigger or if the hammer slipped in my thumb. I never intended to shoot anyone. All that was in my mind was to" fire a shot over his head. That's all that was in my mind. I do know that the gun fired a shot."
Mr Farrelly declined to comment in detail later, saying: "I'm too upset and too delighted." He said he was "happy with the result but not with the circumstances".
Mr Farrelly's wife Betty and daughter Olivia appeared greatly relieved at the verdict. Ms Olivia Farrelly, who had looked tense and drawn throughout her father's trial, said: "It's completely over now.