The court considered a trial on indictment where there was jurisdiction to try the offence charged. After pleas had been taken and counsel for the Crown had opened the prosecution case to the jury, the chairman intervened and directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty.
Held: It was not for the judge to express a view to the jury that a Woolwich jury would not convict on the evidence. However, even an egregiously wrong directed verdict of not guilty could not be disturbed, and certiorari will not be granted to quash a verdict of not guilty of a criminal charge.
Judges:
Lord Goddard CJ
Citations:
[1952] 2 QB 758
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Attorney General’s Reference (No 2 of 2000) CACD 23-Nov-2000
The defendant had faced a charge of possessing an offensive weapon, namely a rice flail. The judge invited the prosecution to reconsider the case before it started, but the case went ahead. After the jury was empanelled, but before the prosecutor . .
Cited – Regina v SH CACD 3-Aug-2010
The prosecutor had appealed immediately against the judge’s withdrawal of a charge of racially aggravated use of insulting words or behaviour. The judge then ignored his obligation to continue the trial without mentioning the issue to the jury. He . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 25 May 2022; Ref: scu.238126
