The jury in the Sacco murder trial resumes its deliberations this morning at the Central Criminal Court after they were sent to a hotel last night.
Ms Anna Maria Sacco (22) denies murdering her husband, Mr Franco Sacco (29), at their home at Coolamber Park, Templeogue, on March 20th, 1997.
The State's case is that a teenage girl, who has pleaded guilty, shot Mr Sacco at Anna Maria's behest.
The jury retired at 5:10 p.m. yesterday, having been directed to reach a unanimous verdict. When they were recalled at 7:30 they had a question for Mr Justice O'Higgins. They asked if the statement of confession made by Ms Sacco to gardai was enough to convict on its own.
Mr Justice O'Higgins told them it was, but with qualification. Section 10:1 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1993, came into play if they found no other corroborating evidence, specifically if they were to decide that Mr Peter Gifford's evidence did not amount to corroboration.
The law required him to advise them to be cautious and circumspect about uncorroborated confessional evidence.
Earlier, during his charge to the jury, Mr Justice O'Higgins told them they were dealing with "a most tragic, horrific, difficult and distressing case", that was "not entertainment, it's real life".