Series 2 Episode 4 - When trials go wrong Part 1 - Grounds of appeal against conviction
(00:40:40)
What happens when things go wrong at trial? Grounds of appeal from judicial bias and lawyers’ incompetence to admissibility of evidence and eyewitness identification.
In episode 4 of Series 2 of the Defence Barrister Podcast, we turn to grounds of appeal, i.e. the reasons why you say that the verdict is unsafe in sufficient detail to explain and demonstrate exactly what went wrong at the trial itself and why it follows that the jury’s guilty verdict can no longer be relied upon as a safe verdict.
And we'll look at a number of common grounds of appeal and the cases where they have been considered, in effect where the Court of Appeal has analysed what went wrong at trial and then decided if it was sufficient to quash the guilty verdict..
There is such a wide variety of grounds of appeal that I’m now going to spend several episodes on them. And today we start with judicial bias, then cover some other really interesting areas, including lawyers’ incompetence, the admissibility of evidence, the rules on producing fresh evidence in support of your appeal, appeals based on the refusal of a submissions of no case to answer, material irregularities in the course of a trial, appeals based on changes in the law, as well as on errors of law and the special need for caution in eyewitness identification evidence.
And in the following episodes we’ll get to the grounds being relied upon by Aidan Johnson in his appeal against conviction for the offence of murder, which I mentioned have particular resonance with some significant and recent cases (which we’ll also have a closer look at) which can undoubtedly be described as miscarriages of justice, although whether the appeal judges will agree that the verdict in Aidan’s case is unsafe remains to be seen.
As ever, thank you for listening.
NOTES
Throughout this podcast I have referred to legislation, cases and to further information and reading. Becoming a member of Defence-Barrister.co.uk gives you access to information on what is covered in this podcast on Life Sentences, as well as detailed guides and information on trials, sentencing and appeals. https://www.defence-barrister.co.uk/subscribe
Bias
Cole [2008] EWCA Crim 3234 https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2008/3234.html
AA [2018] EWCA Crim 2191 https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2018/2191.html
Incompetent representation
Coombes [2024] EWCA Crim 188 https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2024/188.html
Ekaireb [2015] EWCA Crim 1936 https://knyvet.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2015/1936.html
Farooqi [2013] EWCA Crim 1649 https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/JCO/Documents/Judgments/r-v-farooqi-others.pdf
Admissibility (confessions)
Paris, Abdullahi and Miller (1993) 97 Cr App R 99 (Cardiff 3 appeal). (No full transcript publicly available)
Campbell [2024] EWCA Crim 1036 https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Oliver-Campbell-judgment-11.09.2024.pdf
Fresh Evidence
s.23 Criminal Appeal Act 1968 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/19/section/23
Jury misconduct
Haji [2024] EWCA Crim 955 https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2024/955.html
Yussuf v Governor of HMP Belmarsh [2024] EWHC 692 (Admin) https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/yusuff-and-others-v-the-governor-of-his-majestys-prison-belmarsh/
Identification
Turnbull [1977] QB 224 (CA)
PACE Code D - Code of Practice for the identification of persons by Police Officers https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pace-code-d-2023
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