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This is extremely powerful evidence.
Jurors in Jodi trial cautioned on contacts about case
JOHN ROBERTSON
JURORS in the Jodi Jones case were yesterday instructed to report
anyone approaching or contacting them, after the trial judge had been
alerted to one person's behaviour.
Lord Nimmo Smith's direction to the eight women and seven men of the
jury followed a lengthy delay in starting the day's proceedings at
the High Court in Edinburgh.
When evidence did resume, the court was shown part of a DVD which Luke
Mitchell had bought two days after he found Jodi's naked and
mutilated body in woods. The film featured the rock star Marilyn
Manson, and some of the images portrayed a naked young girl lying on
the ground.
The court had not reconvened at its normal time of 10am, and when the
jury was eventually led in some 45 minutes late, only a couple of
questions were asked of a witness before Lord Nimmo Smith announced
that the jurors should leave. Another break of about 45 minutes
followed. Then the judge said to the jury: "We have taken up time this
morning dealing with a matter relating to the behaviour of a particular
individual which you very properly have drawn to my attention, and in
respect of which appropriate action has been taken. There will
certainly be no recurrence in respect of that individual."
Lord Nimmo Smith continued: "If anybody should seek to approach you or
contact you in any way, you should let court staff know about that at
the earliest opportunity."
Mitchell, 16, denies murdering Jodi, 14, his girlfriend, on Monday, 30
June last year by striking her repeatedly with a knife in woods at
Roan's Dyke path, a short-cut between their homes in the Newbattle
and Easthouses areas of Dalkeith, Midlothian.
Detective Constable Stephen Quinn, 43, said he and a colleague
interviewed Mitchell on Friday, 4 July, and the teenager had spoken
about a Marilyn Manson CD, Golden Age of the Grotesque, which had been
bought two days earlier. It came with a bonus DVD.
Mitchell described the DVD as a "Gothic horror thing" with Manson
talking over it "saying random words and stuff" and driving his car
down a road in the middle of the night.
Part of the DVD was played in court, and Manson could be heard saying:
"Kill me, kill everyone, let them all die ..."
Mr Turnbull described a number of flash images, some of a young girl
who was naked and appeared to be lying on the ground. The witness
agreed that the film contained such images.
There was a stage in the DVD, said Mr Turnbull, where a car and its
occupants seemed to be in a dirt track area, with foliage and
undergrowth lit by torchlight.
"They came across two young women who appeared to be bound together,
wearing a corset of some description to make it look as though they
were naked," added Mr Turnbull.
"The occupants of the car appeared to take hoods or bags and place them
over the heads of the two young girls while they were shaking their
heads and struggling. The girls were to an extent molested and carried
away, and it rather looked as though they were put in the car."
Mr Turnbull asked: "In Luke describing the film, did he tell you of any
of those components of it?"
DC Quinn stated: "No, he only gave a brief description."
The defence counsel, Donald Findlay, QC, was told by the detective that
the DVD had an age restriction of 15, and had been bought in a
Sainsbury's supermarket.
"The DVD is a bonus ... it perhaps proves that not all bonuses are good
things," added Mr Findlay.
"Perhaps," DC Quinn agreed.
The trial continues.
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