The jury in the trial of Eamonn Lillis for the murder of his wife has been sent home and will resume its deliberations in the morning.
Before they left the court, Mr Justice Barry White told the jurors he would give them further directions in relation to the verdict tomorrow.
Mr Lillis (52), a television advertising director, is charged with murdering Celine Cawley (46) at their home in Howth on December 15th, 2008. He denies the charge.
Mr Justice Barry White today granted the jury's request to listen back to a recording of his evidence to the court about the circumstances surrounding her death.
After listening to the recording, which lasted for some 50 minutes, the jury retired to listen to an audio tape of a 999 call Mr Lillis made on the morning of his wife’s death.
They also examined a bag and its contents found in the attic of the couple’s home, as well as clothing found in an upstairs wardrobe.
Mr Justice White has told the 12 jurors they must reach a unanimous verdict.
In his closing remarks to the jury on Tuesday, he said the jury must first decide if Ms Cawley’s death was murder and, if not, was it an unlawful killing. “Here the defence make the case it was purely accidental.”
They must either, find him Mr Lillis guilty of murdering his wife, acquit him altogether or find him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Yesterday morning, he continued his charge to the jurors and they retired just after lunch. However, he called them back to clarify certain issues following legal submissions.
“I hope you do not think my charge was directed towards bringing in a particular verdict,” he told them. “It was not. I have been asked to bring a number of matters to your attention.”
Among them was medical evidence that haemorrhage was consistent with postural asphyxia, which was a contributory cause of Ms Cawley’s death. The judge also said that forensic scientist Dr Stephen Doak had not ruled out the possibility of an injury as a result of a fall against the window.
In relation to Mr Lillis’s credibility, he said it had been suggested that he had given the impression that lack of credibility meant he was guilty. This was not so. “People can lie for a myriad of reasons,” he said.
Referring to the option of a manslaughter verdict, he said if the jurors found there was an unlawful killing but no intent to kill or cause serious injury, then a manslaughter verdict was appropriate. Other reasons for a manslaughter verdict were provocation, self-defence or gross negligence
Mr Justice White today censured the Evening Herald newspaper for naming the couple's daughter yesterday. He ordered the newspaper to donate an unspecified amount of money to the Haiti disaster fund and an equal amount to the Simon Community.
The teenager, who cannot be named because of her age, gave evidence to the trial via video-link last week.