A grandfather’s convictions for the sexual abuse of his granddaughter were upheld. There was no proper basis for rejecting the granddaughter’s original complaints, which had been detailed in her ABE interview and maintained throughout the trial, and the reliability of a retraction statement she made shortly after sentencing had to be rejected.
APPEALS AGAINST CONVICTION ASSAULT OF CHILD UNDER 13 BY PENETRATION CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE FALSE STATEMENTS FRESH EVIDENCE RETRACTION SEXUAL ACTIVITY WITH CHILD FAMILY MEMBER
After receiving a note indicating that a juror in a rape trial might not make a decision but just go with the majority, the judge should have told the jury that each member had to consider the evidence and reach a verdict according to his or her view of the material. The subsequent conviction by a majority was not, however, unsafe as the foreman had made it unequivocally clear that 10 jurors had agreed and two had disagreed.
APPEALS AGAINST CONVICTION CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE RULES 2015 r.25.14(5) JURY DIRECTIONS MAJORITY VERDICTS PROCEDURAL IRREGULARITY RAPE
Two appeals against conviction for the sexual abuse of children were dismissed. Although the judge should not have allowed the jury to return their verdicts piecemeal, that had not affected the overall safety of the convictions. However, in trials of sexual abuse cases involving multiple counts, trial judges should invite the jury not to return their verdicts until they had concluded their deliberations on all counts.
ADMISSIBILITY APPEALS AGAINST CONVICTION CHILD SEX OFFENCES COUNTS CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE JURY DIRECTIONS PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS PROPENSITY VERDICTS
A conviction for sexual assault was safe where an offender’s original solicitors had failed to obtain medical evidence showing that he was a diabetic and suggesting that his medical condition affected the answers he had given in interview, during which he had made partial admissions. The jury had been persuaded by the evidence the complainant gave, who had no reason to have lied.
APPEALS AGAINST CONVICTION CRIMINAL PROCEDURE FRESH EVIDENCE OPPRESSION POLICE INTERVIEWS SEXUAL ASSAULT
The appellant’s conviction for the rape of his wife was unsafe, given fresh evidence from witnesses which cast doubt on the testimony given by the complainant.
APPEALS AGAINST CONVICTION CRIMINAL EVIDENCE FRESH EVIDENCE RAPE
Where there had been confusion during the jury’s return of verdicts on four counts of an indictment against two co-defendants, and a verdict against a count of kidnap was not formally entered against one defendant, that defendant had not been convicted of kidnap. The court therefore ordered the Crown Court record to be amended accordingly and the defendant’s sentence for kidnap was quashed.
ACTUAL BODILY HARM APPEALS AGAINST CONVICTION ASSAULT CO-ACCUSED CONVICTIONS COUNTS CRIMINAL PROCEDURE KIDNAPPING RAPE ROBBERY SENTENCING VERDICTS
A judge’s directions to a jury regarding the independence of evidence, the cross-admissibility of evidence over various counts and the danger of complaints of historic abuse were all sufficient and did not either individually or collectively render a defendant’s conviction for sexual offences unsafe.
APPEALS AGAINST CONVICTION CONTAMINATED EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE JURY DIRECTIONS SAFETY OF CONVICTIONS SEXUAL ABUSE OF STEPSONS SEXUAL OFFENCES SUFFICIENCY OF DIRECTIONS TO JURY
Please use the form below to make contact. Your email will be responded to promptly (we endeavour to respond to all email enquiries within one hour). Alternatively, you can call Stephen's firm, Twelve Tabulae Limited, on +44 (0) 203 846 5801.