Hung jury in trial of Dublin firefighter accused of raping US woman in Boston on St Paddy's weekend as new date set
A US judge has declared a mistrial in a case involving Dublin firefighter Terence Crosbie, who is accused of rape.
Mr Crosbie is accused of raping a 29-year-old attorney in a Boston hotel room over St Patrick's Day weekend in 2024.
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He was sharing the room with his colleague Liam O'Brien, both of whom had travelled over as part of a group of firefighters to participate in the Boston parade.
Mr Crosbie was arrested on March 16, 2024 and was on trial this week for the alleged offence.
He has been held at the Nashua Street jail in Boston since his arrest.
However, the jury of eight men and four women were unable to reach a verdict after four days and 22 hours of deliberation.
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As they returned to the court room today the judge declared the jury as "hung".
Judge Sarah Ellis said: 'I declare that this jury is deadlocked and I declare a mistrial.'
Both the woman and Mr Crosbie testified over the five-day trail.
The 29-year-old attorney alleges she met Liam O'Brien in a bar on March 14 and returned to the hotel room where they had consensual sex.
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However, she claims after they fell asleep in separate beds she woke up as a man she did not know was raping her.
Liam O'Brien remained asleep and was snoring at this stage.
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The trial heard CCTV shows Mr Crosbie enter the hotel room and the woman leave 20 minutes later.
The woman also alleges the man told her: "I know you want this. [Mr O'Brien] can't even do this for you – what a loser."
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Mr Crosbie denies the charge and said that he had no sexual contact with the woman and that he "didn't touch" her.
DNA evidence collected from the woman did show two samples the court heard.
However, analysts were unable to determine whether the second sample belonged to Mr Crosbie.
He testified in court: "There was nobody in my bed. My bed was empty."
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He also said "loser" was not a common Irish term and he would not have said it.
A new trial date has been set for October 14 and bail was increased from $10,000 to $50,000 after the judge deemed the accused to be a flight risk.
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The firefighter denies the charge
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