The Court of Criminal Appeal has reserved judgment on an appeal by two Brazilian men against their convictions for the murder of a fellow countryman after a row in Kildare town more than two years ago.
Jose Claudio Batista (31), of Ruanbeg Close, Kildare town, and Adriano Martins Costa (25), of Greencove Apartments, Newbridge, Co Kildare, were found guilty at the Central Criminal Court in August 2006 of the murder of Paulo Cesar Siqueria (39) at Ruanbeg Close following a drink-fuelled row on June 4th, 2005.
Mr Justice Barry White imposed the mandatory life sentence on Batista and Costa. A third man was found not guilty.
Both men appealed against their convictions to the appeal court yesterday which, after a day-long hearing, said it would reserve judgment.
Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, presiding and sitting with Mr Justice John Hedigan and Mr Justice George Birmingham, said the court hoped to give its decision sometime in the new year.
Earlier, counsel for the two men said the appeal was being brought on a number of grounds, including that the trial judge had erred by misdirecting the jury in relation to joint enterprise. It was also argued there should have been separate trials and that the weight of the evidence was such that the jury's finding of guilty was "perverse".
Opposing the appeal, Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, for the DPP, said there was plenty of material before the jury on which they could safely convict.
The trial judge's charge to the jury was "more than ample" and the convictions should stand, he submitted.
The trial had heard Mr Siqueria's body was discovered in a housing estate in the town in the early hours of June 4th, 2005. He had received more than 50 injuries, five of which were inflicted by a wooden stake.
The incident occurred outside the home of Batista, who worked at a local meat factory. Batista and Costa, who was employed at a stud farm, and others had been drinking with Mr Siqueria in the apartment.
A number of witnesses told the court that they saw a group of men involved in a melee. One gave an account of the dead man sustaining "several serious kicks that seemed to lift him off the ground" while another spoke of him being "viciously beaten" with a wooden stake.