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No verdict yet in Anne Norris murder trial, as jury ends first full day of deliberations

The jury that will decide whether Anne Norris is criminally responsible for killing Marcel Reardon on May 9, 2016, has ended its first full day of deliberations without a verdict.

The 12-person jury, which began deliberations late Thursday afternoon, submitted two written questions Friday to Justice William Goodridge — one asking for clarification on the definition of hearsay, and another asking for guidance on state of mind and how that differs from the requirements for a verdict of not criminally responsible.

About four hours after submitting the questions, jurors returned to the courtroom for Goodridge's responses, before returning to the jury room to continue discussions.

Goodridge told jurors that in his instructions, state of mind is synonymous with intent, and would therefore only be considered if they ruled out the not criminally responsible defense and moved on to deliberations for the first-degree murder charge.

Around 5:45 p.m. Friday, the jury finished for the day. Deliberations will resume Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

Norris, 30, has admitted to killing Reardon by hitting him repeatedly in the head with a hammer, as well as placing his body under the steps of Harbour View Apartments.

She got rid of the hammer by putting it inside a borrowed backpack and tossing it into the harbour.

Her defence gave its final submissions on Thursday morning, saying Norris is a mentally ill woman who was suffering from delusions when she killed Reardon.

Her defence is that she is not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.

The Crown prosecutors also gave their final arguments, saying they didn't dispute that Norris is mentally ill, but that she did not meet the criteria to be declared not criminally responsible.

They are asking jurors to find her guilty of first-degree murder, based on the evidence they heard.

Goodridge wrapped his instructions to jurors Thursday afternoon, and they were sequestered just before 4:30 p.m.

Goodridge said that if they find Norris meets the requirements to be not criminally responsible, that is the end of their deliberations.

If they feel she doesn't meet those requirements, they have been given a decision tree to help guide their discussions, working their way through first and second-degree murder.

If Norris is deemed criminally responsible, the minimum verdict is manslaughter, since she's admitted to killing the 46-year-old Reardon.

Goodridge advised jurors they had a long day of listening to instructions and arguments, and they should wrap for the evening at 6 p.m. — advice the jury took.

The six men and six women of the jury went to a hotel for the night and are not allowed to speak about the case, nor can they watch TV, listen to the radio or use cellphones.

While sequestered, they are incommunicado.

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