Rafael Hui jury enters second day of deliberations today
Nine jurors adjourned without a verdict last night after nearly nine hours discussing and debating the city's highest-profile graft case
The jury in the city's highest-profile graft trial will continue today to deliberate charges facing former government No.2 Rafael Hui Si-yan and the billionaire brothers who co-chair Sun Hung Kai Properties, after almost nine hours of closed-door discussions yesterday returned no verdict.
Mr Justice Andrew Macrae called the nine jurors out of their room shortly after 8.30pm and asked them to break for the night.
With that, the jury ended its first day of deliberations.
Macrae told the jurors, who were staying overnight at the High Court, that they could chat about anything - such as Occupy Central - but not the case before the court reconvened at 9.30am.
Earlier on the 127th day of the trial, he had requested that the jurors try their best to be in complete agreement for each of the eight counts, including bribery and misconduct in public office.
"You should strive to reach a unanimous verdict, a verdict on which you all agree, whether guilty or not guilty," he said. But the minimum acceptable to the court was to have seven people taking the same side, he added. "A verdict of 6:3 or 5:4, either way, does not constitute a verdict."
Hui, his head down, closed his eyes as Macrae gave the jury his final directions. SHKP co-chairman Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong looked straight ahead in Macrae's direction, while his younger sibling, Raymond Kwok Ping-luen, jotted down notes as usual.