sudoku_art_257_20080611092635.jpg

A competitor works to solve a Sudoku puzzle during the Sudoku Tournament in Philadelphia. (Credit: AP/Joseph Kaczmarek)

The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that, after 105 witnesses and three months of evidence, a drug trial costing $1 million was aborted this week when it emerged that jurors had been playing Sudoku since the trial’s second week. (HT: How Appealing)

In the District Court in Sydney, Judge Peter Zahra discharged the jury after hearing evidence from two accused men, one of their solicitors and the jury forewoman, who admitted that she and four other jurors had been playing the numbers game since the second week of trial. As one of the accused was giving evidence in a trial in which two defendants face drug charges, he saw the jury forewoman playing what he thought was Sudoku. His co-accused saw it too, and the defense lawyers made a joint application for a discharge.

The judge was alerted after it was observed the jurors were writing vertically, rather than horizontally. It had been assumed they were taking notes. “Yes, it helps me keep my mind busy paying more attention,” the jury forewoman reportedly told the judge. “Some of the evidence is rather drawn out and I find it difficult to maintain my attention the whole time, and that doesn’t distract me too much from proceedings.”

Judge Zahra, who had previously commended the jury for its apparent diligence, told the forewoman that the Sudoku players had let down their fellow jurors and all involved in the trial.

“Legislating for attentiveness is very difficult,” Australia’s AG John Hatzistergos, told The Australian. “What we can do is to streamline these very lengthy trials.”