新西兰英语 156 David Bain Not Guilty

　　Over the past three months, TV news has shown the David Bain re-trial. This is his second trial. David has spent 13 years in prison for murdering five members of his family, his mother, father, two sisters and his brother in 1994. David Bain said that he did not do it. He said his father killed them and then shot himself. The re-trial came to an end today when David Bain was found Not Guilty, by a jury¹ of seven women and five men. The jury took only six hours to decide that he was not guilty. The jury has to decide if there is a “reasonable doubt” about who killed the family.
This court case is a very unusual case. David was lucky that a millionaire, Joe Karam, became interested in the case and was sure David was not guilty. Joe was an All Black years ago and since then, has been a successful business man. He wrote two books about David. Joe took the case to the Privy² Council in England. This used to be the highest court for New Zealand but we now have our own Supreme³ Court. The Privy Council did not say that David was innocent but said that there were problems with the first trial, that it had not been fair and David should have another trial.
This court case has been very expensive for the tax payer. It probably cost around $10 million. David can now ask the government for compensation⁴ for all those years he has spent in prison. He is now 37 years old, he has no money and has lost all those years of his youth.

1 jury   

n.陪审团，评委会；adj.临时用的；vt.挑选

参考例句：

• These twelve men are believed to compose the jury.据信，陪审团是由这12人组成的。
• The members of the jury were discharged from their duties.陪审员们被解除了职务。

2 privy   

adj.私用的；隐密的

参考例句：

• Only three people,including a policeman,will be privy to the facts.只会允许3个人，其中包括一名警察，了解这些内情。
• Very few of them were privy to the details of the conspiracy.他们中很少有人知道这一阴谋的详情。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 compensation   

n.补偿（或赔偿）的款物，补偿，赔偿

参考例句：

• Workers who have been unfairly dismissed may claim compensation.被无理开除的工人可以要求补偿。
• Equal compensation should be given to men and women for equal work.男女同工应同酬。