court case

[jannyneve]

how far into a crown court trial can a case be thrown out?

[campbellking]

I served on a jury about 15 years ago. The first case lasted just over one day, we all got ousted from the courtroom, while they debated 'points of law'. When we returned the next day, the judge directed us to find the defendent not guilty as he had thrown all the evidence out. The next case, we listened to the evidence for the prosecution for 2 and a half days, and tried to keep straight faces as it was somewhat hilarious, the only sober witness to the alleged offence being the one-eyed barman who stated 'he couldn't swear to what had happened' . The judge said there was no point in listening to the defence as the evidence for the prosecution was so flimsy, and directed us again to find the defendent not guilty. Made me seriously wonder about the efficacy of the C.P.S

[don1]

We listened to a case of a fifteen year old girl who claimed that she had been raped by a 23 year old man, after two days it became clear that she had been a willing partner and cried rape when she found she was pregnant and was scared what her mum would say.

The rape case was thrown out and the man pled guilty to having unlawful sex with a minor.

If the judge sees that the way the trial is going will lead to a miscarriage of justice he is honour bound to stop it, it doesn't matter how far along it is.

[JudgeJ]

The trial process in the Crown Court and that in magistrates’ courts are broadly similar. The stages are:

Outline of prosecution case
Detailed prosecution case. This involves examination of witnesses (known as “evidence-in-chief), cross-examination by the defence, followed by re-examination by the prosecution if necessary.
Detailed defence case. (This follows the same format as the prosecution case)

After this the processes differ slightly. In the Crown Court the prosecution has the chance to summarise its case. Then the defence provides their summary. Then the judge sums up the evidence before asking the jury to retire to consider its verdict.

In the magistrates’ court only the defence provides a summary. There is no judge and no jury, so there is no summing up. The magistrates retire to determine their verdict.

The most usual time for a case to be “thrown out” is at the end of the prosecution case. At this stage, in the Crown Court, either the defence can make an application that there is “no case to answer”, or the judge can rule that this is so. This would usually be based upon the quality of evidence offered by the prosecution.

In the magistrates’ court the Bench does not have the power to rule, on their own volition, that there is no case to answer, but can make such a decision in response to a defence application.

In the Crown Court the judge has the authority to halt the trial at any time. However, (s)he would be unlikely to do so if it has been agreed that there is a case to answer, unless a serious matter arises which would make the continuation of the trial unfair or illegal.