Legal argument took place in the jury's absence yesterday at the Central Criminal Court trial of a publican accused of murdering his wife and a toddler.
Mr Francis McCann (36) has denied the murders of his wife Esther (36) and 18 month old baby Jessica at the family home in Butterfield Avenue, Rathfarnham, Dublin, on September 4th, 1992.
The jury has heard that Jessica was a blood relative of the accused man but not a child of his marriage to Esther. The prosecution has claimed that Mr McCann arranged the fatal fire because he did not want to tell his wife why the Adoption Board had refused the couple's application to adopt Jessica.