Jury begins deliberations in rape case over MMA fighter allegations

The jury in the civil case against Conor McGregor will continue deliberating in the High Court in Dublin on Friday.

Mr McGregor faces charges in a civil case that he “brutally raped and assaulted” Nikita Hand at a south Dublin hotel in December 2018.

The Irish sports star had previously told the court he had consensual sex with Ms Hand on the rooftop of the Beacon Hotel.

Ms Hand, also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, is also suing another man, James Lawrence, for assault.

After two weeks of evidence and several days of closing arguments, the jury of eight women and four men began deliberating at 15:03 local time on Thursday.

While in the jury room, the jury will have a subject sheet on which to record their verdict.

It states two questions.

The first is “Did Mr. McGregor attack Ms. Hand?” and the second is “Did Mr. Lawrence attack Mrs. Hand?”.

They must answer “yes” or “no” to the questions. If they answer “no” to both, that’s the end of the matter and Ms. Hand loses the case.

If they answer “yes” to one or more questions, the jury will move on to the next stage and consider what compensation to award Ms. Hand.

Judge Owens warned the jury not to talk about their deliberations with anyone, including loved ones who he said might be involved in the case.

He told the jury to “look at all the evidence.”

As the jury summed up Mr McGregor’s evidence, they were told they could not draw any negative inferences from his “no comment” responses to police weeks after the alleged incident.

Judge Owens reminded the jury that there are various types of damages to be considered in this case if they decide to award damages.

This also includes recognition of harm, as well as distress and vindication, which includes pain and suffering for the present and the future.

Also aggravated damages paid for recognition of crimes that shocked the plaintiff.

He asked them to be careful not to double count and to make sure they wrote everything down.

Exemplary damages are punitive damages that will punish the defendant.

He said it had to be a really serious crime, they could consider rape really serious.

Judge Owens also said it was serious if someone tried to cover up matters or made “blatantly false” statements.

The jury was also told to keep both feet “firmly on the ground” and “use common sense.”

The judge added that if they come to the stage of giving compensation, a 15 percent deduction will be made from the figure while evaluating what and when they will give in case of loss of earnings.

He told them it’s called contingency deductions because we live in an “uncertain world” and the courts have said those things have to be taken into account.

In a civil case in the Republic of Ireland – unlike a criminal case – neither the complainant nor the accused has an automatic right to anonymity during court proceedings.