Jury debates underworld murder for almost a month

The jury in an underworld murder trial has been dismissed after the judge ruled that extending deliberations into a fourth week would only delay the inevitable

Acting Chief Justice Robert Allan Hulme dismissed jurors in the NSW Supreme Court trial of Samuel John Rokomaqisa on Thursday after finding they were unlikely to reach a verdict.

Rokomaqisa pleaded not guilty to murdering Hamze crime family boss Bilal Hamze in June 2021, as well as conspiring to kill his younger brother Ibrahim Hamze and attacking an elderly man during a carjacking.

The jury entered its fourth week of deliberations on Tuesday after retiring to consider verdicts on Sept. 23.

But the chief justice told Deputy Judge Hulme on Wednesday that there was no prospect of reaching even an 11-to-1 majority decision on any of the charges.

Acting Judge Hulme thanked the jurors for their long service since the trial began in early August.

“You’ve been here a lot longer than anyone realizes,” he said Thursday morning.

“It’s disappointing… a criminal case can take this long and not be able to make a decision either way.

“It’s part of the jury system.”

Bilal Hamze was shot multiple times after leaving a Japanese restaurant in Sydney city center in apparent retaliation for earlier gang violence.

The person, who was injured in his abdomen, hip and elbow, died in the hospital where he was taken.

Rokomaqisa allegedly committed the crimes to demonstrate his loyalty to the rival Alameddine gang and gain their trust to recruit him.

But his lawyer claimed there were no eyewitnesses to show the Fijian man was in the black Audi seen circling the block and was standing next to Bilal Hamze when the shots were fired.

Statements from people close to the scene at the time of the shooting said the car’s windows were “darkly tinted” and the shooter was wearing a mask from nose to chin.

Rokomaqisa will return to court on November 7 to hear whether he will be retried.