Thomas Earle found guilty of rape in ACT Supreme Court trial

A jury found Thomas Earle, 26, guilty on Friday of raping a close friend he met on Hinge.

The Weetangera man was found guilty of one count of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of act of indecency without consent.

The guilty verdicts related to penile-vaginal intercourse and touching of genitals.

He was also found not guilty of two other counts of sexual intercourse without consent.

Earle maintained his innocence throughout the ACT Supreme Court trial, which started on Monday.

Deliberations lasted for more than five hours, after the jury was presented with nearly four days of evidence and submissions.

Chief Justice Lucy McCallum sent the jury to begin deliberations about 2.30pm on Thursday.

It can now be revealed that earlier that day, a juror submitted a note to the court expressing concerns about the attitude of other members of the jury towards defence barrister James Sabharwal and the defence case.

The court heard other members of the jury were not aware of the note.

Details about the note could not be published until after the trial ended.

"Comments from the jurors is becoming disturbing. Initially it was a few comments and eyerolls about the perceived weakness of the defence," it said.

"One juror seems to be leading the charge.

"If we had finished yesterday OK, but listening to another morning of derogatory comments is leaving me anxious."

At the time, Mr Sabharwal urged Chief Justice McCallum to discharge the jury.

He argued the jury was not performing its duty, not listening with impartiality and not considering the defence's evidence.

Mr Sabharwal said he did not feel confident presenting his closing arguments to the jury, saying its members had "formed a view against the defence case".

While Chief Justice McCallum said she was "sympathetic" to the defence, her "obligation is to nurse the trial across the line".

After questioning the note's author, the judge decided the trial would continue.

The jury ultimately found Earle guilty of raping a close friend while staying the night at her home on December 29, 2021.

The court previously heard Earle had met the woman on the dating app Hinge and they dated for about a month before deciding to be friends.

On the night in in question, the woman invited Earle to her home for dinner and they smoked marijuana, drank alcohol and shared jungle juice, also known as amyl nitrate.

Prosecutor Beth Morrisroe told the jury they then watched a movie in the lounge room and the woman went to bed while Earle stayed up.

Ms Morrisroe said the woman awoke at around 2am to find the accused spooning her and touching her genitals.

Earle was accused of then raping her in three different ways.

In his closing address on Thursday, Mr Sabharwal argued his client had believed, at the time, the woman was consenting.

He claimed while Earle had not verbally asked for consent, the accused and the woman had kissed before having sex, and she had displayed similar conduct to past experiences.

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The prosecution alleged the pair had not kissed and the woman had "frozen" in fear.

Mr Sabharwal told the jury the trial was not about whether the woman had consented, but about Earle's state of mind at the time.

Earle remains on bail and is set to be sentenced on April 14.

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