Help to find a 'Good' solicitor

[angelheart]

Is he in prison and if so how long did he get?...
Yes, received 8 years on 1 count + 4 years to run concurrent of 3 other counts.

Did trial counsel send him a document called an "Advice on Appeal?"....
Yes, trial counsel stated there were no grounds for appeal to conviction. This was not surprising, if trial counsel had confirmed there were grounds to appeal conviction it would have shown he did a terrible job at trial, which he did

If the conviction only recent then there may grounds of appeal in the Judge's Summing Up(JSU) with misdirections and/or missed directions.....
Conviction was from May 2013, We have a copy of JSU, the only thing at present that has been highlighted is the Judge failed to address the jury about the complainants tears

Maybe bad character was wrongly put (I don't know in your case as I wasn't there) all sorts of things could have gone wrong at trial......
A lot did go wrong at trial, the defence team failed to produce evidence, counter evidence, interview witnesses, produce witnesses, gather evidence. The CPS withheld evidence and failed to produce other evidence in sufficient time to allow us to react. Some CPS evidence was only produced 2 days before trial which fell on a bank holiday weekend, bearing in mind they had six months from arrest to trial. The defendant was also denied access to material throughout this period, how can anyone be expected to defend themselves if they do not know the full extent of what is being produced against them.

[Rights Fighter]

I think you answered in the same way further up the thread unless my phone is playing up - its a new toy and getting used to it.

I was wondering how you know about what CA will allow hence the question as to whether you had attempted to appeal - but it seems you have not yet got that far

[angelheart]

FA and MOJ my family have been subjected to the complexities of the Legal system. Before all this happened I would have said 'Justice' but it has not been, and I know many others have experience this also. We gave our son's life to a so called 'Defense' team we gave them all our money and they gave him up to the CPS.
We have read and re read the legal papers that we had to demand after trial, and there was so much that they didn't do. These we then forwarded to a legal aid solicitor that I rehearsed and specializes in these cases. We didn't know how long and drawn out an Appeal on legal aid can be. We never even got to speak to this guy, not for the want of trying. After months of 'nothing' and hard work saving we decided to return to a private solicitor . We found this forum too late, as unfortunately we approached SC and ultimately who he recommended. We are no longer with them! We have found someone else who has been very honest and straight with us, and agreed that trial solicitors and council did a very poor job, and now our son is paying the price for it.
We know only New evidence or if after reading all the papers he can prove the trial was not conducted appropriately we may have a chance to appeal.
But I can't and wont give up to this Injustice! It is a living nightmare and one I know so many are going through.
I spoke to the Lord Chief Justice's office last week, and I am in the process of emailing them . Sir John Thomas as the 'Chief' of this legal organisation should start an investigation into the practices of some legal firms, and Barristers. How can this keep happening to innocent people. This ordeal swallowed my son and spat out someone we hardly recognize, but it is not going to ruin the rest of his life to that my husband and I are stronger and more determined than ever.

[Rights Fighter]

..................................

We found this forum too late, as unfortunately we approached SC and ultimately who he recommended. We are no longer with them! We have found someone else who has been very honest and straight with us, and agreed that trial solicitors and council did a very poor job, and now our son is paying the price for it.

We know only New evidence or if after reading all the papers he can prove the trial was not conducted appropriately we may have a chance to appeal..............................

For one scary minute I thought you meant solicitor Chris (my eyes need a break from the screen) - am I right in thinking you mean somebody who has previously been discussed on here, who has an office in London?

Am I right in thinking you have bought the trial transcripts? If you have, I assume you have the Judge's summing Up right down to the verdicts?

[angelheart]

Oh yes this person has office based in London. We do have a copy of the JSU, and was told (by the ex London based solicitors) that the full transcripts were required, this was back in March of this year and it took them until recently to order them, a copy of which we have requested as we have paid for them.
I think there are more honest criminals out there! The word unfortunate does not emanate the experiences we have had , all just trying to help our son.

[Rights Fighter]

It's not often necessary to obtain the whole of the transcripts.

When I fillet a case, i make notes as to inconsistencies, discrepancies etc, and ask questions such as "had the defendant got previous convictions, similar or different to what he was currently accused of?" "Was evidence of that put to the jury?"

I would then suggest getting the JSU to see how the judge directed the jury on those matters. I check for all necessary directions.

If there was a legal argument about bad character evidence going in, and the judge allowed it in, I would want to see the legal argument.

If people remember something odd about a complainant's evidence, I might ask for that particular part, or all of it, depending on the circumstances.

It's sheer laziness to suggest that the whole of the transcripts must be obtained. Usually you can pick and choose which bits you want, which lessens the cost of the transcripts and also lessens the cost of the solicitor/barrister who has to read it.

[angelheart]

Thank you , we knew there were good people out there. Not forgetting ,but drawing a line for now to concentrate on the most important matter of appeal.
We do, as I have said have it in 'safe' hands at last. I am keeping The Faith , that all our misfortunes will turn around but will not give up until they do.
Our son is of good character , no previous on anything at all! Something as never been right about the whole situation , obviously starting with the 'complaint' but more so from the police right up to trial. Our son never mentions the complaint at all , he feel more let down by 'The System' that should have protected him.

[angelheart]

We continue to fight on! Nothing or No one will stop us from getting the Justice Our sons deserves.
Just wondering if anyone has come across an Investigation company called Liberton? We are still in our battle to find new evidence to help with our appeal against conviction, and although had a bad experience with previous sols and investigator (SC) that can't and won't put us off.
Any help or advise gratefully received.

Hope is FAITH holding it's had out in the dark! Keep the faith everyone and keep fighting

[o my god]

My heart goes out to u and ur family, I had the cps try and put something past the judge that they did not want us to see on the day of the trial, thank god he said we had to see it if they wanted to go ahead

[Incredulous]

So the police will hold back evidence from your solicitors ? If your sols have asked for full disclosure how can they do that?

[Rights Fighter]

There is a list called "The Unused Schedule". This is a list of evidence that the police have that could undermine the case for the prosecution. Not all of it does and most of it does not - but there can be some really helpful stuff there.

The police have codes as to what they can and cannot disclose: what they cannot disclose is written on the list as CND = Clearly Not Disclosable. Some of that IS disclosable and they hope by writing that on the schedule, it won't be asked for.

A good solicitor (and/or barrister) will put together an argument as to why, in the interests of a fair trial, that item should be disclosed to the defence. If an agreement cannot be settled then usually the barrister (often via the solicitor) will ask for a pre-trial hearing to argue before the judge why that item should be disclosed. The judge will then say yea or nay.

If it is not disclosed on order of the judge, it could be argued in the Court of Appeal if there is a conviction if it would have made a difference to the verdict.

The unused material is stuff that is disclosed to the defence and it should be listed on the schedule. I've known unused material be surreptitiously slipped into the unused after conviction. If defence cannot prove that then they can't use it for appeal. If they can prove it, then it's fresh evidence (to the defence as they've not seen it before).

[angelheart]

oh thank you RF, what if we know there was a piece of evidence given to the police and it is not shown anywhere on the schedule ? It was asked for by the solicitor but wasn't produced. No surprise there as the solicitor and Barrister made no effort to talk let alone argue for anything throughout .

[Rights Fighter]

Appeal solicitors / counsel should be able to argue for it. If it is still not forthcoming then a pre-appeal hearing can help as the evidence can be ordered to be produced if it still exists.......

However, it would have to be evidence that goes to the heart of the allegations. For instance it can't be a statement from somebody who knew the def a very long time and 'knows' (as in believes) he is not guilty.

[angelheart]

The "Still Exists " is a thought I can't contemplate at this moment in time. It would go to the heart and should have along with a lot of the disclosed that just was not fought for. The solicitor we have who is reading the papers for us knows about it. Our son and my whole family deserve a Lucky break, we haven't so far, but I'm still keeping optimistic. Of course we are also looking for other evidence etc. want a really strong appeal. As I have said we have had a bad experience with a criminal investigator, but its not put us off. Have you heard of Liberton investigations? We also have an experienced Human Rights adviser looking at our case, on the attack from every angle we can think of.

The greatest advantage of speaking the truth is that, you don't have to remember what you said.

[Rights Fighter]

I've not heard of those PIs although that's not to say they aren't good. I take it that you are in the London area given you mention it. One of my lads used a PI I think he was from Surrey. He seemed to do the job and didn't charge an arm and a leg either.

Another one is in London

http://www.andersonchance.com/

They went the extra mile for one of my guys. Jason Woodcock was the main contact in that case.