A judge in an historic sexual offences trial had not erred in declining to discharge a juror who had known a witness’s husband through work only well enough to say hello to in passing. The judge had ascertained that the juror felt that she could remain faithful to her oath and there had been no objectively justified or legitimate doubt as to her impartiality.
BIAS CRIMINAL PROCEDURE DISCHARGE OF JURY NORTHERN IRELAND SEXUAL OFFENCES WITNESSES
A judge receiving fresh prosecution evidence during the course of a trial might have put undue pressure on a defendant to change his plea by indicating that he would give a reasonable amount of credit if he did so. However, the incident could not lay the foundation for an allegation of bias because the defendant had continued to maintain his innocence and the judge had continued to conduct the trial entirely fairly.
ADMISSIBILITY BIAS CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 2003 s.101(1)(d) CRIMINAL PROCEDURE FALSE IMPRISONMENT FRESH EVIDENCE JUDGE RECEIVING FRESH EVIDENCE INDICATING REASONABLE CREDIT WOULD BE GIVEN IF DEFENDANT CHANGED PLEA JUDICIAL INDICATIONS JURY DIRECTIONS PROPENSITY SEXUAL ASSAULT SUMMING UP WHETHER JUDGE BIASED
The presence of a serving police officer on a jury in a criminal trial had not compromised the fairness of that trial because, although the case involved allegations of improper police conduct in relation to offences admitted as evidence of propensity, it did not involve a dispute of evidence between defence and police witnesses, and the officer serving on the jury could not be said to have been biased.
ABUSE OF PROCESS BIAS CASE INVOLVING ALLEGATIONS OF IMPROPER CONDUCT BY POLICE CHILD SEX OFFENCES CRIMINAL PROCEDURE EFFECT ON FAIRNESS OF TRIAL FAIRNESS JURORS POLICE OFFICERS RAPE SERVING POLICE OFFICER ON JURY
A conviction for indecent assault was quashed on grounds of apparent bias on the part of one or more of the jurors. The judge had no firm basis for holding the accused responsible for incidents that led to the bias.
APPARENT BIAS BIAS CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CROSS-EXAMINATION DISCHARGING JURY IMPARTIAL TRIBUNAL INDECENT ASSAULT JURIES
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