'You are the only judges of the facts': judge gives final instructions to jury in Rene Sweeney murder trial

The jury in the Rene Sweeney murder trial received final instructions from the judge Tuesday and has gone into deliberations to come up with a verdict.

Twelve jurors will ultimately decide if 43-year-old Steven Wright is guilty of second-degree murder and stabbed Sweeney to death in January 1998.

This comes at the end of five weeks of evidence and testimony at the Sudbury courthouse, including the closing arguments on Monday.

Justice Robbie Gordon went over some of that evidence in great detail, advising jurors about what the law allows them to consider and what they should consider when deciding on a verdict.

"No one saw who killed Ms. Sweeney," he told them, saying that means the Crown's case is based on circumstantial evidence and the jury's job is to determine ifthe only "reasonable and rational" inference fromthat evidence is that Wright murdered Sweeney.

"You, not the media, not anyone else, are the only judges of the facts," Gordon told the jury.

"You must not be influenced by public opinion."

He told the jurors it's up to them to believe all or part of someone's testimony and gave a specific warning about how unreliable eye witness accounts can be.

"Use your same common sense that you use every day to determine if people know what they're talking about or if they're telling the truth," Gordon said.

"There's no magical formula."

The judge began the day by correcting something the Crown said in itsclosing statement on Monday, saying that Wright never told anyone that he ran from the murder scene until he was arrested in 2018.

Gordon made it clear that the Crown's comment was "inaccurate," that the evidence the court heard was that Wright never told his parents about what he did that day,and that the jurors"must not use his silence to infer that he fabricated his story."

The judge asked the jurors to make "every reasonable effort" to reach a consensus, but reminded them that they have a "right to disagree." All 12 jurors have to agree to reach a finding of guilty or not guilty.

The court heard that the jury will generally meet between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. each day andwill be sequestered in a hotel until they reach a decision.