Jury begins deliberations in Sean Dunne civil trial in US

Jurors have begun deliberations in the civil trial of bankrupt developer Sean Dunne and his wife, Gayle Killilea, in New Haven Connecticut.

This follows three weeks of testimony that involved hundreds of documents being entered into evidence.

At issue in the trial is whether Mr Dunne and Ms Killilea transferred tens of millions dollars of his assets to her to shield them from creditors while and after his property development businesses collapsed.

The trustee in Mr Dunne's 2013 American bankruptcy says they did and is seeking to return the funds to the bankruptcy estate and distribute them to creditors, including the National Asset Management Agency and Ulster Bank, who are underwriting the litigation.

Mr Dunne and Ms Killilea deny the allegations, saying that he was solvent when he made the transfers and they were intended to assure the independence of his wife and their children’s future.

Separate decisions

The 10 jurors are being asked to render separate decisions on each of about 10 properties and pots of money, including the Walford home in Shrewsbury Road, Dublin 4, which was purchased for €58 million and later sold for €14 million.

They must do so using different standards of proof and look back periods derived from the laws of three countries: the United States, the Republic and Switzerland. The plaintiff is also asking the jury to "pierce the corporate veil", a finding that will allow him to tap assets inside entities that the defence says Ms Killilea set up for her American property development business.

As of late Thursday morning US time, jurors were still deliberating.