Crown Court Trial...again

[nailit]

First of all for those of you on this site who have given me much support over the last 8 months regarding my trial for an alleged affray I would like to say thank you (for those not aware, you can go back on my profile to understand the full picture)
My trial was listed for the 16th of this month after already been postponed from last october. I was informed the night before that it had again been postponed with no explanation or any idea of a new date. Only 2 days before my trial date I had been discharged from a psychiatric hospital after a short stay (10 days) as I was suffering from severe depresion (I was ill at the time of this alleged offence and have been treated for severe depresion since).
At the time of my plea hearing in court my barristor said that he would try to get my case listed for trial as soon as possible because of my state of mind and the added pressure it was having on my mental health. I managed to speak to my barristor a couple of days ago and am still no nearer to getting a fixed date again. I feel that im been takin for a ride as the longer this drags on, the more money lawyers are making for themselves. Also its messing my witnesses about as they keep booking time of work and then having to cancell at the last minute.
Is there ANYTHING I can do? I dont know how much more of this I can take before I do something silly.
TIA guys.

[albaqwerty]

naillit, thank you for posting. A few of us were concerned and worried about you xx

I doubt you can force a case to be heard, but I hope it's sooner rather than later. xx Purely for the sake of your health. I hope your legal team are stressing this on your behalf.

It's so easy to say to keep your chin up and so on with many trite messages, I do wish you all the very best.

[wolf63]

I know nothing about the law but I know the pain that mental health problems can cause.

Do you have a CPN that you can talk things through with? You need to slow down your brain going over all the possible outcomes and try to get it back to a more normal pattern of thought. (Sorry if that is garbled - my brain and my current medication don't seem to be getting on very well).

Best wishes

Susan x

[EDDIE51]

Sorry to hear this, they really are dragging it out. All you can do is to keep on at your lawyer to press for a trial date. I still think the police are struggling to come up a believable account to back up their side of it and are playing for time. Can your lawyer at least find out why the trial keeps getting delayed ? even if he can't get a date ? Someone like New Judge would know more about this than I do , there surely must be a limit to how long a trial can be delayed .

[nailit]

Thank you alba and wolf,
I have just been given another mental health worker as my last one is retiring, dont know what hes like yet.

[nailit]

Thank you EDDIE. Got no idea why it keeps getting delayed. Cant seem to get ANY answers. Was looking forward to getting it over with after all this time.

[baza]

don't know about legal stuff but I would suggest you keep on at your brief to get a fixed date for trial, all this hanging about makes one think the old bills case is a bit iffy. I can offer moral support along with others on here.

[nailit]

Thank you baza, i appreciate all the support ive had on this site.
My last date WAS a fixed date but got told at 4:30 the previous night that it had been postponed again with no explanation. My baristor got to speak to the listings officer in court a few days later and was told that there could "possibly" be another slot in April but nothing certain.As for the old bills case been iffy...theyve lied through their teeth already about what happened.

[FredPuli43]

One thing it doesn't do is make the lawyers richer. The CPS are on salaries. The barrister on either side only gets paid for a trial when it starts and there will be no extra fees claimable for written opinions between the case being taken out of the list and it starting because they're won't be any. If the case is listed and the barrister has to attend but it doesn't start, he or she gets only a nominal fee, which barely covers his costs and is nothing compared to what he gets for starting. The solicitor likewise earns no more.

The usual reason for a case being taken out is simply that the list office finds that it hasn't got enough time for it to be heard, usually because the office has put too many effective cases in the list, or cases on are over- running the expected time. Being told at 4.30 the night before, on the appearance of the list for the next day, that the case is not listed, is the bane of lawyers' lives, never mind the poor witnesses'. In itself, the non-listing is not sinister. If the list office were told that the prosecution wasn't ready, they'd be inclined to list it anyway, so that the prosecution could make their excuses and a proper enquiry made and, in the absence of good reason, the case proceed. It might not, but the judge might say it should.

[nailit]

Thanks for that Fred.