A juror has been discharged from a long-running murder trial in Sydney after falling asleep and audibly snoring as the case neared its conclusion.
The unidentified woman had been serving as one of 15 jurors on a three-month trial regarding a hitman's alleged murder of a bystander while working for a Sydney drug ring in February 2017.
As the prosecution case entered its final stages, Justice Peter Hamill observed that the woman had clearly been asleep "for some period of time".
"I made those observations because the fact of their somnolence was brought to my attention by members of my staff," he said, as reported by Australian Associated Press (AAP).
"Yesterday, members of my staff again drew my attention to the juror and each of them could not only see that they appeared to be asleep, but were of the view that they could hear them snoring."
According to AAP, the juror had fallen asleep on at least four separate occasions during the cross-examining of police investigators and throughout the first parts of the prosecutor's closing address.
"The juror's inability to remain awake... caused me to conclude that there is a reason affecting the juror's ability to perform the functions of a juror," Hamill said.
After she was discharged, the woman argued that there was a medical reason for her fatigue, which was acknowledged by Hamill.
"The juror was diligent and attentive until the last week or so of the trial, and their inability to remain awake was understandable and beyond their control," he added.
The decision to discharge the juror, which was finalised on November 3, surfaced on Wednesday after the jury returned their verdicts.
Hitman Ying Cheng Luo and his associates, Jaiyu "Da Yu" Liu, 38, and Ian "Michael" Fan, 49, were found guilty of murdering Chinese national Qin Wu, 37, and shooting with intent to kill Jun Jia on February 1, 2017, AAP reports.
The hitman had been hired by the Big Circle drug gang after Jun Jia failed to pay for his narcotics.
Each offender will face a sentence hearing on March 19, 2021.
