By their acquittal of the defendant on the count of child cruelty the jury had been of the view she "was trying her best", the defence added.

McConnell, for instance, who engineered Trump’s Senate acquittal in February 2021 after his impeachment for inciting the insurrection; conviction could have been paired with a vote banning Trump from seeking federal office.

The judge also denied defense motions for a judgment of acquittal and for a new trial.

His chief jury investigator, Bert Franklin, had approached two prospective jurors in the McNamara case and offered them cash to vote for acquittals.

Against that backdrop, Mr Hakamata's acquittal was a watershed - a rare moment of retrospective justice.