Earlier Acquittal not for mention on retrial
The defendant appealed against several convictions for serious ‘historic’ sex abuse. He said that there was insufficient evidence before the court to decide that the complainant had been under 14 at the time, and that any consent was vitiated. He also complained that he had not been allowed to put to the jury that he had been twice acquitted of these charges.
Held: Only in the clearest of cases should an issue as to the age of a complainant be withdrawn from the jury. This was not such a case. Equally there were other possible explanations for the earlier acquittals than that the complanaint had been judged a liar. The normal situation was that such acquittals were irrelevant: ‘The question of whether the acquittals should be allowed to go before the jury with respect to the question of reliability is a matter for the judge to determine, balancing the interests of the defendant against those of the prosecution and having regard to what is fair overall. The judge in this case thought that these were relatively trivial matters, that they would have little bearing on the substantial issues that the jury had to determine at the retrial, and that they would necessarily distract the jury from its task and invite speculation as to why the earlier jury had reached the verdict that it had.’
Elias LJ, MacKay, Hickinbottom JJ
[2011] EWCA Crim 916
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Olugboja, Regina v CACD 17-Jun-1981
The actus reus of the offence of rape was an act of sexual intercourse to which the complainant did not consent at the time it occurred. . .
Cited – H, Regina v CACD 10-Jul-2007
The judge had upheld a half time submission where there was strong evidence that a drunk 16-year old had consented to intercourse.
Held: The issue ought to have been left to the jury. Hallett LJ observed that questions of capacity and consent . .
Cited – Regina v Terry CACD 21-Dec-2004
The prosecutor had a alleged a conspiracy basing the charge on a conversation in a car. The court rejected the admisibility of evidence of a voice recognition expert, and the defendant was acquitted on direction. He then said that in the absence of . .
Cited – Regina v Cooke CACD 1987
The defendant faced trial on offences of conspiracy to commit forgery and other related offences. It was alleged that he had made admissions to a police officer in a related case but involving a different defendant. The jury had acquitted the . .
Cited – Regina v Joseph Robert H CACD 1990
At his first trial, the appellant was charged with several sexual offences. He was acquitted on some and the jury failed to agree on others. His counsel sought to adduce evidence of acquittal on the Counts of indecent assault at the first trial to . .
Cited – Regina v Z (Prior acquittal) HL 22-Jun-2000
The defendant on a charge of rape had been tried and acquitted of the rape of different women on three previous occasions in three separate trials. The prosecution wished to call those three complainants to give similar fact evidence in support of . .
Cited – Hui Chi-ming v The Queen PC 5-Aug-1991
(Hong Kong) The defendant was charged with aiding and abetting a murder. A, carrying a length of water pipe and accompanied by the defendant and four other youths, seized a man and A hit him with the pipe, causing injuries from which he died. No . .
Cited – Regina v Malone CACD 1-May-1998
The defendant appealed his conviction for rape, arguing that the girl, though drunk, had consented.
Held: The Court approved the judge’s direction as follows: ‘She does not claim to have physically resisted nor to have verbally protested. She . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.441297