AFTER A trial lasting more than a week, a jury of nine has voted by a majority of seven to two to convict Dundalk man Michael Dermot McArdle of manslaughter.
He had been tried for causing the death of his wife Kelly-Anne Corcoran during a violent hotel-room argument on the evening of February 11th, 2000, on the first day of a family holiday in Marbella on the Costa del Sol. He could spend up to four years in a Spanish jail after being found guilty on the manslaughter charge.
The jurors delivered their verdict in a formal reading just before lunchtime yesterday in Malaga's Criminal Court, with members of both families present along with over a dozen Spanish and Irish journalists. McArdle arrived at the courthouse at 10.15am with his parents and sister, Therese, and waited for the verdict for almost two hours, out of sight of the family and friends of his late wife.
Once in court, he sat impassively as a court-appointed interpreter translated for him in a whispered voice the detailed conclusions read out by the jury foreman.
The statement of conclusions was based on a comprehensive list of questions the judge issued in his directions to the jurors on Monday. The complicated nature of the information and the fact that most of it referred to a document that only the prosecution, defence and jury had seen meant it was not immediately clear to the public which of three verdicts - acquittal, manslaughter or murder - had been reached.
However, the foreman eventually summarised the findings and explained that, based on the evidence, the jury was satisfied that "in the heat of an argument which turned violent" and which was heard by at least two witnesses, McArdle "pushed his wife on the balcony of their hotel room, causing her to fall over the rail".
However, the jury also believed that "it had not been proven beyond doubt that the defendant had deliberately intended to kill her" or that he could have foreseen the consequences of his actions, and therefore he could not be convicted of murder, as requested by the private prosecutor acting on behalf of the Corcoran family.
Rejecting McArdle's version of events that Kelly-Anne's death was a tragic accident, caused when she tripped and then plunged to her death in trying to prevent their toddler son from leaning over the balcony handrail, the jury said it was satisfied that the computer-generated reconstruction of the fatal fall by police and forensic experts had shown conclusively that "she could not have fallen over the rail on her own", as alleged by the defence.
Following the reading of the verdict, state prosecutor Carlos Yañez called on the judge to impose a three-year prison sentence on McArdle, one year less than the four years subsequently requested by Hector González, the lawyer acting for the Corcoran family.
González insisted on the maximum tariff for manslaughter given that McArdle's actions "had left two children without a mother".
Defence lawyer Luis Casaubon called for the minimum sentence of one year, given that the jury had accepted that his client tried his best to save his wife once she had toppled over the balcony, but she had slipped from his grasp.
Both prosecutors petitioned the court to have McArdle remanded in jail pending sentencing by the judge, which could take a week. Warning of a "real risk of flight" and of the complications of extradition proceedings, Mr González reminded the court that the jury had "unanimously recommended" that McArdle's sentence should not be suspended, which is a possibility open to the judge if a term of two years or less is imposed.
McArdle's defence lawyer rejected the suggestions that he might try and avoid returning to Spain if allowed to leave the country, and requested that he should not be remanded.
After listening to the arguments, the judge announced that he would wait until he had deliberated on his sentence before addressing the remand issue.