Patel jury calls for judge's explanation

A JURY in the Jayant Patel manslaughter trial has asked for the judge's help for an explanation on the test for gross negligence.

In the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Wednesday the jury of five men and seven women asked Justice George Fryberg for a re-direction following two days of deliberation behind closed doors.

Justice Fryberg said the test applied to criminal conduct was objective, and the standard was that of "a reasonably competent surgeon" in all of the circumstances.

"You should assess what a reasonably competent surgeon would have done," he told them.

He said criminal negligence required a standard of conduct that was "so unskilled or careless as to be grossly negligent".

"It's very much an assessment you have to make based on your commonsense," Justice Fryberg said.

"It's a question of degree."

During his closing address on Monday, Justice Fryberg warned the jury it was its duty to pay attention to the evidence and not to be "swayed by emotion" when deciding whether the former Bundaberg Hospital surgeon was guilty or not.

He spent just under three hours addressing the jury with the aid of a Powerpoint slide presentation before sending them out to deliberate at 3.57pm on Monday.

The jury, who will consider the matter using a specially-prepared "flow chart", will be sequestered until they deliver a verdict in the case.

Justice Fryberg summed up both the defence and prosecution cases during his address and took the jury to various points of law, stressing they would need to be judges of facts, not advocates.

Patel, 62, has pleaded not guilty to unlawfully killing Mervyn John Morris, 75, who died three weeks after a sigmoid colostomy and colectomy removed part of his bowel on May 23, 2003.

Crown prosecutor Peter Davis SC said Patel misdiagnosed the cause of Mr Morris' ongoing rectal bleeding, misjudged the risks, ignored his patient's other underlying health problems and provided inadequate post-operative care.

He said Patel's behaviour was criminally negligent and caused his patient's death.

Defence barrister Ken Fleming QC told the jury there was not enough evidence to prove Patel caused Mr Morris' death and said the accused held the "honest and reasonable belief" the operation to remove his bowel was necessary.

He said Patel was a busy doctor who tried his best to save Mr Morris' life and urged the jury against accepting evidence from Crown witnesses who used "the luxury of hindsight" to criticise Patel's decision to do the surgery.

Mr Morris died of cardio-respiratory failure, liver protein deficiency, fluid overload, malnutrition and blood poisoning on June 14, 2003.

The trial has sat for 24 days and heard from 25 witnesses.

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