A message was offered to one of the solicitors acting for a defendant from a relative of a juror after the trial.
Held: Rules against hearing of jury deliberations are wider than Contempt of Court Act. The court refused to commence any Young style investigation of the jury’s activities. The reasoning in Ellis v Deheer must extend to anything said by one juror to another about the case from the moment the jury is empanelled.
Judges:
Kennedy LJ
Citations:
Times 18-Dec-1996, [1997] Crim LR 351, [1996] EWCA Crim 1653, [1997] 2 Cr App R 12
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v McLusky CACD 1994
Any passing of information about jury activities threatened the secrecy of the jury room, and was potentially in contempt. . .
Cited – Regina v Young (Stephen) CACD 30-Dec-1994
Jury Consulting Ouija Board – Serious Irregularity
It had been suggested that during their overnight stay in a hotel after retiring to consider their verdict, some of the jurors had consultated an ouija board to consult with the deceased, and to ask him who had been his killer. Having believed that . .
Cited – Straker v Graham 1839
The court refused to receive an affidavit from an attorney, made to him by a juryman, that the verdict was decided by lot. . .
Cited – Regina v Thompson CCA 1962
There was tendered to the court what appeared to be a statement from a juror asserting that a majority of the jury had been ready to acquit until the foreman read out a list of the previous convictions of the accused.
Held: ‘This court is now . .
Approved – Ellis v Deheer 1922
The court heard an application for a new trial of a civil action which had been tried before a jury on the ground that the verdict as delivered by the foreman was not the verdict of the jury.
Held: A jury’s deliberations cannot be questioned. . .
Cited – Regina v Andrew Brown 1907
The court refused to consider the affidavits of five jurymen to decide whether a fellow juryman had been guilty of misconduct. The allegation was that before any evidence was given the juror in question made it clear to fellow jurors that whatever . .
Cited – Regina v Schofield CACD 1993
After the jury’s verdict, a juror asked the bailiff if the jury could have asked a question, and on receiving an affirmative response, the juror went on to say that the jury had not understood the offence of affray and had written a note to that . .
Cited by:
Binding – Regina v Qureshi CACD 23-Jul-2001
The appellant had been convicted of arson. A few days after the conviction, one juror reported concern about the behaviour of the jury.
Held: Authority was clear, that the court could not enter into an investigation of what had happened with . .
Cited – Regina v Connor and another; Regina v Mirza HL 22-Jan-2004
Extension of Inquiries into Jury Room Activities
The defendants sought an enquiry as to events in the jury rooms on their trials. They said that the secrecy of a jury’s deliberations did not fit the human right to a fair trial. In one case, it was said that jurors believed that the defendant’s use . .
Cited – Regina v Smith, Regina v Mercieca HL 16-Feb-2005
A member of the jury wrote to the judge saying that other members were failing to discharge their duties properly. Smith took a tactical decision not to seek a retrial. The judge saw counsel in chambers, after which the jury were reminded of their . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice, Contempt of Court
Updated: 08 October 2022; Ref: scu.149317