A judge had a continuing duty during a trial to keep in mind the possibility of directing an acquittal. He must take care not to usurp the jury’s function. Nevertheless that jurisdiction should be exercised only sparingly, and only where he was satisfied that no jury could properly convict on the basis of the evidence put before them. A trial judge could intervene, even at the end of a defence case, to withdraw a case from the jury where he concludes that no reasonable jury, properly directed, could safely convict the defendant of the charge before them.
Judges:
Longmore LJ
Citations:
Times 01-May-2001, [2002] 1 Cr App R 5
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Khan CACD 27-Jul-2009
On his trial for murder the defendant produced unchallenged expert evidence that at the time of the offence, his mental responsibility for the killing was substantially impaired by his mental illness. He said that in these circumstances the charge . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.88394
