The defendants appealed against their convictions, saying that the presence of police officers on the jury suggested bias.
Held: The court rejected the suggestion that police officers should, because of their occupation, be automatically regarded as being disqualified from serving on a jury. A fair-minded and informed observer would not conclude that there was a real possibility that a juror was biased merely because his occupation was one which meant that he was involved in some capacity or other in the administration of justice. ‘The position is, however, different if the juror has a special knowledge either of individuals involved in the case or as to the facts of the case part from that provided by the evidence.’
Judges:
Lord Woolf LCJ, Richards, Henriques JJ
Citations:
[2005] EWCA Crim 1986, [2005] 1 WLR 3538, [2006] Crim LR 245, [2006] 1 Cr App R 1, [2005] 4 All ER 869
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Pintori, Regina v CACD 13-Jul-2007
The defendant appealed his conviction for possession of class A drugs, saying that the drugs found had belonged to somebody who had stayed at his flat whilst he had been away. One of the jurors later told a police officer that she had known through . .
Cited – Regina v Abdroikof, Regina v Green; Regina v Williamson HL 17-Oct-2007
The House was asked whether a jury in criminal trials containing variously a Crown Prosecution Service solicitor, or a police officer would have the appearance of bias. In Abdroikof, the presence of the police officer on the jury was discovered only . .
Appeal from – Regina v Abdroikof, Regina v Green; Regina v Williamson HL 17-Oct-2007
The House was asked whether a jury in criminal trials containing variously a Crown Prosecution Service solicitor, or a police officer would have the appearance of bias. In Abdroikof, the presence of the police officer on the jury was discovered only . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice, Police
Updated: 03 July 2022; Ref: scu.229381