Directions for the jury…

Welcome to week 13 of the court visit breakdown!

Here is your backstory:

  • This was in Crown Court

  • I observed the lead up to the ending of a trial, and sending the jury off to decide their verdict

  • This was a rape case where the defendant was a minor at the time

When I first entered the court and sat to observe, both counsel and judge were deliberating the specific directions that would then be read out to the jury.

Particularly the prosecution counsel, went through the directions and was suggesting alterations to the specific wording the judge had used. This included using rape instead of sexual assault, or putting emphasis on the age of the defendant and victim at the time of the offence. As both were minors at the time, it was extremely important for the jury to appreciate that there may have been a lack of understanding on behalf of the defendant due to his age. This was deliberated by the prosecution, to ensure that the defendant was not given, in a sense ‘leeway’, because he was a minor, and although his understanding of the consequences of his actions may have been misunderstood, a boy of the same age would still have a good understanding of the offence. This needed to be relayed through a small direction given.

Although, this went back and forth slightly, the judge remained firm with his directions, stating that he has done this for many years and has had no issues or appeals with these directions.

Subsequently, the jury was called back into court, and the directions alongside any inferences were read out.

Following this, both prosecution and defence gave their closing speeches. This seemed to heavily rely on reiterating the specifics of what they felt was their most important piece of evidence, as well as reminding the jury that they are the judges of fact, not the law.

After the speeches had been made, the jury was sent out and given time to decide their verdict.

So that was the case that I observed for this week. What particularly interested me was that the defendant was charged with this 5 years ago, therefore, we can see the backlog of court cases in real time, and how that can be in a way, more difficult for both parties involved.

See you next week!