Bridge jury struggles to reach verdict

AAP-March,27-Jurors say they will never be able to reach a unanimous verdict in the murder trial of a man who threw his four-year-old daughter off Melbourne's West Gate Bridge.
Justice Paul Coghlan urged the jury to continue trying to reach a verdict in the case of Arthur Phillip Freeman, who flung his daughter Darcey from the bridge on January 29, 2009.
The jurors will now go into a fifth day of deliberations in the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday.
On Sunday, they told Justice Coghlan they could not come to a unanimous decision.
"The jury believe it will never agree unanimously on a verdict no matter how much further time the jury spends on deliberations," the jury said in a written question.
"The jury therefore requests that you direct us how to act in this situation."
Justice Coghlan said he understood that it was a stressful case for the jurors but urged them to continue deliberations.
"Do I understand that it is stressful for you, of course I do, extremely so," he said.
"This is a difficult case with hard issues and I thank you for the work you've done."
Jurors were asked to decide whether Freeman, 37, was "mad or bad".
During a two-week trial, they heard differing opinions regarding Freeman's mental state on the day he killed Darcey.
Graham Burrows, a psychiatrist called by the defence, said Freeman was in a dissociative state and suffering from possible psychosis when he killed Darcey.
But two psychiatrists called by the prosecution found he was not mentally impaired at the time.
The jurors will resume their deliberations at 10am (AEDT) on Monday.