Straight Talk - Web of deceit has to be endured by court
Plenty of words have been expounded about the Leveson Inquiry since it came out last week but it is another not unrelated topic that has intrigued me in the past week.
The Government, apparently feeling Something Must Be Done, is proposing that it be made a specific criminal offence for jurors in criminal cases to consult the internet.
It follows one or two well-publicised cases where jurors have looked up information on the internet, so denying justice to the defendant.
One told all the other jurors that the defendant had a long record, itself troubling enough, it was even worse when it turned out that the person found on the internet was actually someone else with the same name.
I did jury service last year and was generally impressed by the seriousness people approached the task with. I can’t say all prejudices were left at the jury room door – I suspect they weren’t – but people did understand that the cases were to be tried on the evidence presented.
Anyone who seeks to press the delete button on the web is setting themselves up as a hi-tech Canute. In this, at least, the Americans have the right approach in their legal system – trust the people. There is nothing else you can do, say that whatever you may have seen or heard, anywhere about the case or the defendant, put it from your mind and try the case on the evidence.
Anything else will make the law look an ass.
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Weather for King's Lynn
Monday 20 May 2013
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