Supreme Court judge tears into 'unfair' A Current Affair story that aired on eve of Matt Wright's chopper crash trial: 'Not what journalists should be doing'
Jury members were asked if they had watched the program, which aired on A Current Affair on Tuesday night, just hours after the jury in the trial had been empanelled.
'It seems clear that it was a piece of journalism that was aimed to suggest that Mr Wright is guilty of something and that's not what TV journalists should be doing,' Justice Alan Blow told the jury on Wednesday morning.
'It was a segment of a program that suggested that Mr Wright was guilty, screened on the night before his trial was getting underway.
'It had a list of witnesses. It's a stale list. It's not the same list (the prosecution) read out to you yesterday.'
Wright is facing three charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice relating to his alleged actions after a chopper crash that killed his friend and Netflix co-star Chris 'Willow' Wilson.
He has pleaded not guilty to all three counts.
Justice Blow said the story on A Current Affair showed a photograph of the helicopter crash site in Arnhem Land with text showing what could be found at certain places in the bush.
'This isn't a case about why the helicopter crashed,' he told the jury.
'It's not suggested that Mr Wright is responsible in any way for the crashing of the helicopter.
'If you watched the program you might get the idea he is guilty of something and is going to jail for it.
'It was quite unfair and (could have seen) this trial aborted.'
One of the 12 jurors told Justice Blow he had watched the program but said he still believed he could perform his role in an impartial way.
Justice Blow allowed the trial to continue but warned jurors not to access the program.
'Please don't try to watch it,' he told the jury.
'It's very important Mr Wright gets a fair trial and watching it could interfere with a fair trial.'
The trial continues.
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