The defendant appealed against his conviction. He had not been represented at trial, and several objections were taken to the conduct of the case, and in particular that prosecuting counsel had made a closing address, and that he had not been allowed to transfer his legal aid order to a different firm of solicitors.
Held: Under section 2 of the 1885 Act: ‘There is no doubt that the general rule is that prosecuting counsel is not allowed a second speech where a defendant has called no witnesses apart from himself.’ However, the convictions were nevertheless safe.
Judges:
Gage, Treacy, Bean JJ
Citations:
[2008] EWCA Crim 2030
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Stovell, Regina v CACD 12-Jan-2006
The defendant appealed against his conviction. Before he gave evidence, his legal team withdrew for professional embarrassment. He now complained that notwithstanding that he was unrepresented, prosecuting counsel had been permitted to make a . .
Cited – Regina v Mondon CACD 1968
The appellant had been unrepresented throughout her trial. She appealed, complaining that the prosecutor had been allowed to make a closing speech.
Held: The conviction was quashed. Lord Justice Edmund Davies drew attention to the impact which . .
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Paul CACD 2013
The defendant complained that even though no closing speech had been made on his behalf, the judge had allowed prosecuting counsel to make a closing speech.
Held: There is a convention that prosecuting counsel should not make a closing address . .
Cited – Cojan, Regina v CACD 25-Nov-2014
The defendant appealed against his convictions for offences of rape and robbery. Towards the end of his trial, he had sacked his legal team, and had given no colsing address. He complained that the judge had even so allowed the prosecutor to ake an . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 11 September 2022; Ref: scu.277318