The defendant appealed against his conviction for sexual assault. He complained of the judge’s conduct of the trial. He complained of the over-extensive rehearsal of parts of the evidence.
Held: The appeal failed. The rehearsal of the evidence had indeed been overlong: ‘This sort of summing-up we had hoped was a thing of the past. This court has said over and over again, that the purpose of a summing-up is to direct the jury, assist it in reaching a fair resolution of the issues. A long recitation of the evidence from one witness to the next has the opposite effect.’ He had then given what was almost a speech for the prosecution. However, those defects were not sufficient to cast doubt on the verdict.
Moses LJ, Cranston, Lang JJ
[2013] EWCA Crim 2617
Bailii
England and Wales
Criminal Practice
Updated: 18 December 2021; Ref: scu.535475