Statement Retraction

[TerryWogan123]

Hi
i just want to know if someone is allowed to retract a statement.ive posted my situation on here previously,in short i was attacked in a toilet and retaliated but because there was 2 of them with a different story to mine i am now going to crown court charged with ABH.
One guy dont remember what happened as he was extremely drunk and the other guy who was in the same condition gave a very damaging statement against me and this is why i am now going to court. but this guy now wants to retract his statement and no longer wants to go through with it,so my question is can he do this as ive seen varied answers on the net so far.

also i was shown his statement when this first went to magistrates court,apparently this was an untyped up version but i read it all and it was a complete fabrication of the truth,for example he said that a member of staff came into the toilets and pulled me off of the guy which simply didn't happen,now i have the full written up statement and this part has totally gone and the story has changed slightly.

but id like to know if he can retract or whether the cps can just go ahead without him anyway,bearing in mind hes the only one against me,and without his story there's nothing.

thank you

[Peter Pedant]

As a defendant - you should keep your fingers crossed that they can ( withdraw their statement ).

and then the prosecution may even offer no evidence....

as for doing something about it -such as encouraging it, shouting good on you mate ! - no I dont think you can without the risk of being accused of interfering. So... on your knees and get praying.

A tenant of mine who was a notorious liar, did this - OK said she had done this. But by that time she was lying so consistently that we couldnt be sure as spectators that she wasnt Just Making it All up (again)

[TerryWogan123]

"as for doing something about it -such as encouraging it, shouting good on you mate !"

what? have you replied to a different question here?

of course i am hoping they can retract their statement but i am asking if they can ,im not asking if i should keep my fingers crossed.

bizarre answer to my question,no help at all sorry.

[Peter Pedant]

sorry I spoke

[TerryWogan123]

pointless waffle .
id really appreciate anyone with an actual answer that knows about statement retraction.

thank you.

[Infomaniac]

You have accused Peter of pointless waffle. Perhaps you should thank him for taking the time and trouble to answer you at all rather than insult him for trying to help you, even if his response did not give you the answer you wanted.

[TerryWogan123]

im sorry?
the answer was completely unrelated,no answer at all would have been equally helpful.
and im supposed to appreciate and thank him for that?

its my post and id appreciate it if it was kept on topic and maybe others will find it helpful too in the future.

[EDDIE51]

If the other party does not turn up in court and give evidence then the case should be dropped.
It is only in domestic violence cases that the CPS will go ahead even if the victim withdraws a statement.
You need to just let the case continue and if it does go to court plead 'not guilty'
Then the other guy will have to come to court and give his evidence and be cross examined on it. If he fails to attend or refuses to give evidence the case will be thrown out and you win.
If the other guy tells the police he is not pressing charges and will not go to court the case should be dropped without even getting to court and your charge will be dismissed.

[TerryWogan123]

that you EDDIE51
it is going to crown court,we have the hearing and plea management this month and ive i have pleaded not guilty all along.
this other guy has already given a statement as ive said,can the CPS not just use this if they even if the guy does not turn up?
and most importantly is it possible for him to retract and drop out preferably before the case management hearing this month?

[black_cat51]

hi, how did you find out that the accuser wants to retract his statement?

[EDDIE51]

The other guy needs to tell his solicitor or the police that he wants to drop the case and withdraw his statement. As black cat says how do you know he wants to drop the case? Is it something you have heard or is it from the police?
If he has told the police he wants to drop it the police should tell the CPS that the case is closed.

[1ofmanyvictims]

He can still be required to give evidence even if he wants to retract his statement I think. Obviously there must have been a decent level of evidence for the cps to authorise a charge. I think it will depend on circumstances like level of injuries sustained and wether you have previous. I'm not an expert but from the recent homework I've done, I believe that May be the case.

[New Judge]

The drill is that the original statement stands. It cannot be withdrawn. What can be done is that a second statement can be taken retracting the first. It will then be up to the CPS (not the victim or the police) to decide whether to proceed.

If they do proceed the victim-witness can be called to court (and summonsed if he refuses to attend voluntarily). There he can be questioned about both statements and may even be declared a “hostile witness”. This means he can be cross-examined by the prosecution lawyer (even though he is a prosecution witness) and may be asked to explain the fundamental the discrepancy between his two statements.

[sandyRoe]

In such a case would there be the unspoken thought in the courtroom that the first statement was withdrawn because of fear?

[Canary42]

I trust you're not the well-known TV person Terry Wogan.

Good luck with your case - I'm no expert (except jury experience) but it sounds to me as though you'll be cleared.

[TerryWogan123]

Hi
thanks for the response ,much appreciated.
ok i know this because i am a friend of a friend although i dont know this guy and haven't spoke to him since the incident but its quite a close community around here everyone knows everyone.

the thing is also that his `original statement` which as i said previously i read whilst at magistrates court differs from the typed up version,he says that i was pulled away by a member of staff and pushed them off and continued attacking but this simply isn't true,no one else was there,then in the typed up version there's no mention of this and the story is slightly different.

you say there must be sufficient evidence but i disagree,the guy who punched me and i hit back claims to remember nothing from about an hour before right up until he allegedly woke up in hospital,but he wasn't unconscious he just cant remember,bearing in mind this was a cider festival and they had all been there all day drinking,some of the ciders were 8% so as you can imagine they were extremely drunk. the trouble is this other guy claims to have a razor sharp memory of the whole event and says he saw me stamping on the guys head,this isnt true and there's no marks on the guys head ie footprints although he did have a broken nose and in all honesty i wouldn't be surprised if that was a result of hitting him back but its still self defence.
so the reason the cps are seeing this as so serious is because they say i used a weapon (my shoe on my foot) and this is down to the guys statement who now wants to retract.

when i first got arrested after being interviewed the pc said i cant see it going any further,the guy dont remember and the `witness` seems very vague too so i was released on bail,then when i returned i was charged because this `witness`like i said suddenly had a razor sharp recall of events.


so anyway now from your replies the answer is that he cannot retract his statement at all,he can only give a fresh statement.

and can he only be cross examined if he is a `hostile witness`?? because no matter what i strongly believe he needs to be cross examined,so is this possible just as a `normal witness` (whatever that is).

[black_cat51]

hearing from a friend of a friend doesn't mean it's true. You probably need to wait for the plea meeting and see what happenes

[TerryWogan123]

good question sandyRoe ,i do have character references and statements that i collected personally from people who were there in the pub as the police were very selective to say the least with gathering evidence,i even asked for painkillers for my thumb (which the other guy pulled) and was told ill be out in 10 minutes and was kept in the cells for a further 4 hours. i also asked for pictures to be taken of my thumb which was very swollen but they just said `theres no need`.

and thanks Canary42,id rather it had never gone this far obviously ,whats making it a hell of alot worse is that legal aid want £3500 a month as a `contribution` ,so im currently 7K in debt with threats of bailiffs and more court action,so ill be bankrupt soon and id just started running my own business,its in its first year,its disgusting that the courts can do this and demand this money,im effectively being bullied to pay for something that hasn't even happened yet.
No wonder alcohol isn't banned ,it generates so much money for `the land` ;)

[TerryWogan123]

black_cat51 it is true i have no reason to doubt it what so ever,i know hes just scared of being done for wasting police time.

[1ofmanyvictims]

I'm sure if the cps thought there was enough evidence to prove you had stamped on him, then they would have authorised a more serious charge. Be prepared for a lot of questions if you're claiming self defence. Needs to be reasonable and proportionate to the risk. I'm not saying that is or isn't cause I don't know how you felt but they will ask why you didn't just push him out of your way to vacate the toilet. I would refrain from admitting to retaliating too.

[TerryWogan123]

thanks for the advice,i have no experience with this kind of situation so im certainly not looking forward to being grilled with questions. despite being adamant im not in the wrong here.