The Court of Criminal Appeal has reserved judgement in the case of a Dublin man seeking to have his conviction overturned for the double murder of two Polish mechanics.
David Curran (20) was jailed for life by Mr Justice Liam McKechnie in May last year, after a Central Criminal Court jury found him guilty of murdering Pawel Kalite (29) and Marius Szwajkos (27) by stabbing them in the head with a screwdriver.
Curran, of Lissadel Green, Drimnagh, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to murdering the men outside their home on Benbulben Road, Drimnagh on February 23rd, 2008, but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of provocation.
Delivering a summary of written submissions, Giollaiosa O Lideadha SC, for the applicant, said the main thrust of the appeal was that the trial judge had delivered a “seriously defective” charge to the jury and failed to direct them adequately or consistently on the “ultimate issue” of provocation.
At the original trial, the defence contended that Curran stabbed the two men having “lost control” and succumbed to a “mad rage” when the two victims shouted at him and moved toward him from the door of their house.
Curran claimed he was on drink and drugs and lost control when he stabbed the two men, believing his father had been stabbed in an earlier row with Mr Kalite.
However, the State rejected this contention and argued that Curran had concocted the story about his father being stabbed.
Mr O Liodeadha contented that the trial judge committed a number of errors throughout his charge, including wrongly informing the jury that there was an onus on the defence to prove that the two victims had shouted and moved toward Curran, when in fact the onus lay with the prosecution to disprove this was so.
In a complex submission on semantics, he also argued that Mr Justice McKechnie’s had worded parts of the charge incorrectly and that his use of language had on occasion given rise to issues fundamental to the conduct of jury trials.
Mr O Lideadha said the trial judge was incorrect in telling the jury that they did not have to reach any level of certainty, mathematically or morally, when considering the evidence, but they had to be satisfied beyond
a reasonable doubt. He told the court that he was relying on Supreme Court judgements from the United States and Canada in this regard.
Mr O Liodeadha submitted that the jury should instead have been told that they must reach a level of certainty that meant having no reasonable doubt.
Counsel for the State, John O’Kelly SC, submitted that Mr Justice McKechnie had delivered a balanced and fair charge, which in its totality had given the jury a clear picture of the core principles of law involved and how to apply them.
He argued there was no diminution in the trial judge’s clear and repeated assertion that the onus fell on the prosecution to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that Curran had been provoked and had succumbed to a sudden loss of control.
Mr O’Kelly said the jury had arrived at their verdict appropriately and could not have been under any misconception to what Curran’s defence was.
The trial heard how Mr Kalite and Mr Szwajkos never regained consciousness and died in hospital within days of the brutal stabbing.
The State Pathologist, Prof Marie Cassidy, concluded that Mr Kalite sustained two stab wounds to his left temple, one which penetrated his skull and did irreparable damage to his brain. He also had broken teeth.
She said Mr Swajkos was stabbed through the left temple, skull and brain. He also had a fracture to the right side of his skull, consistent with falling to the ground after being stabbed.
Presiding judge Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell, sitting with Mr Justice Michael Moriarty and Mr Justice Michael Hanna, said the court would reserve its judgement.