He did however have the benefit of trial by jury in the normal way. The law then required two witnesses to an act of treason, but at Nugent's trial only one witness, John Cusack, appeared to testify that Nugent knew of and encouraged William's rebellion. Nugent, like all those charged with treason in Ireland until the middle of the eighteenth century, was denied the right to legal counsel, but given his own legal expertise this was presumably less of a difficulty for him than it would have been for a layman, and he conducted his own defence with great spirit. He accused Robert Dillon of having bribed Cusack to commit perjury, and it seems that much of the trial was taken up by Dillon defending himself against charges of misconduct. To bolster the evidence, Grey claimed that Nicholas had privately confessed his guilt to Mr Waterhouse, a royal clerk. Whether or not the judges came to the trial with their minds made up, they seem to have had little doubt as to the verdict which the jury should bring in.  Nugent was found guilty, and hanged at Trim on 13 April. There were claims that the jury were coerced by the judges, which is likely enough. John Philipps Kenyon writes that until the 1670s it was considered quite proper for a judge to bring strong pressure on a jury to find the "right" verdict (i.e. guilty), and the practice of a judge "suggesting" that the jury bring in the required verdict continued into the 1690s. Further, the jury would probably have been aware that the Crown had the right to punish jurors for acquitting an accused person in the face of strong evidence of their guilt, as would happen to a County Kildare jury in 1586. A story quickly circulated that Robert Dillon, at the hanging, remarked: "Friend Nugent, I am even with you now for coming between me and my place (i.e the office of Chief Justice)". Elrington Ball doubts the truth of the story, but as he remarks the fact that it was told at all is a comment on the unease which the case aroused. A few years later the then Lord Deputy of Ireland recommended that only English judges be appointed in Ireland, as Irish born judges decided cases purely on family or local loyalties. Roger Wilbraham, who became Solicitor General for Ireland soon after the trial, thought that Robert Dillon's conduct in particular had been disgraceful, but argued pragmatically that those like Dillon who did the Queen good service should not be "pressed hard" for anything less than a capital offence.