Help needed - wrongful conviction is killing me

[Saffron]

In May this year my loving kind husband was wrongly convicted of indecent assault. His accuser originally informed the police that he had raped her, but when, after 14 weeks, the forensic evidence proved that no sexual intercourse had taken place, she changed her accusation to indecent assault.

The prosecution offered no evidence other than her word. the jury had to decide who they believed, and they chose to believe her. He was convicted, and sentenced to 12 months in prison. At closed court the judge told the two barristers he did not believe the jury had taken enough time to fully consider their verdict, and therefore no more than 6 months should be served. He also expressed his disgust that no Victim Impact Report had been prepared.

The case was all over the local press, with my husband's name and our full address. Our garage was ransacked one evening. the police did nothing.

I have now discovered that the friends of his accuser have been spreading malicious lies about him to all his ex-colleagues. They have been boasting that he has been convicted of rape, and that he had been arrested for rape before, but that there was not sufficient evidence for the CPS to press charges, and it is therefore thanks to his accuser that he is behind bars. They are also telling these people that I have left him, and taken our 4 year old son with me. They are warning all female employees to stay away from him, that he is dangerous, and "not the man they think he is".

THESE ARE ALL LIES! He was NOT convicted for rape, he has never been accused, arrested or charged with anything before, let alone a sex crime, and I have not left him - in fact I am fighting to try to clear his name! How can they do this?

Please, does anyone know whether I can DO anything to stop these vicious women spreading their lies? It is killing me to hear such falsehoods. I cannot afford a lengthy civil case, and the police have told me that there is nothing they can do.

Surely their boasting has some bearing on the criminal case? that they can boast about it now? that they are happily naming his accuser to everyone? The lady who informed me of all this has said she is prepared to testify if necessary.

I feel such unbelievable fury that they can do this to him, I can't sleep or eat. He is a good man, a loving husband and father. Even the judge at sentencing said he had no doubt my husband was a hard working family man, but that given the jury's decision he had no option but to deliver a custodial sentence. Ironically, if he had pleaded guilty he would probably not be in prison now.

If anyone knows what I can do, please please let me know. I am at the end of my tether, I don't know what to do. I can't afford to take time off work to go to the CAB, and I have no spare cash to see a solicitor. Any advice or guidance gratefully received.

Thank you.

Saffron.

[diana_holbourn]

I don't know if this is a silly idea, but if the local paper have already named him anyway, what about contacting them and telling them he's a victim of malicious rumours and trying to persuade them to print what the judge said about him and character references from some long-term friends of his, as well as facts of the case that can be absolutely proven true like that the rape charge was dropped because of no forensic evidence?

[saffron]

Thank you Diana. I will gather all the references and see what I can do.

[Snoopyseed]

three words.

Appeal the conviction.

If you are on benefit you may be entitled to legal aid, speak to your local citizines advice bureau for more info.
Snoopy

[Saffron]

It's not that simple, Snoopy.

You cannot appeal simply because you do not think the jury made the right decision. There has to be proof that the trial was unfair, that new evidence has come to light, that the jury or the judge was predjudiced in some way.

In our case, there was no evidence other than his accuser's word, and no defence for us except my husband's word. We have consulted two different barristers who have both said that unless new evidence comes to light there are no grounds for appeal. For example, if she boasts that she made a false accusation to someone, then that person would have to go to the police and report what she had said. This is really the only way we will have grounds for appeal, because there were no forensics, despite samples being taken the day after the "assault."

When I found out that his accuser and her friends had been making up these lies about my husband, I rang the police because I was hopeful that it might have some bearing on the criminal case - showing malicious intent to cause further damage my husband. The police don't want to know. The solicitors I have contacted have said that because he has been convicted they do not wish to look at the case.

Everyone thinks that convicted individuals automatically have the right to appeal, but this is not true. For us, our hands are ties, and we have been let down so badly by the justice system that our lives will never be the same again.

[Ashley]

Dear Saffron,

I have been having this very same discussion with Snoopy ( the threshold to be met by the Court of Appeal) in the 'Rape Law' section, you may wish to review the thread.

In the meantime, I completely understand your problem. When the case involves one persons word against the other, there being no corroborating evidence, credibility is pivotal.

It may be difficult, if not impossible to obtain them now but can I ask the question: Did your husband's legal team request the full medical records of the complainant.?

I don't just mean those relevant to the time of the alleged offence, I mean her full medical history. You see there are certain psychiatric conditions that could render the sufferer less reliable than the average informant. Medical records can be enormously revealing in this respect. There are physical complaints that can reveal an underlying psychological disturbance.

If, and I say it cautiously, an expert winess could say on the balance of probabilities that the complainant was subject of such a disorder, then it may, again cautiously, amount to fresh evidence that the Court of Appeal might receive.

You are obviously not blind to the fact that you have a mountain to climb. I also recognise that it is not tea, cakes and symapthy that you require but practical advice.

If you feel there is the slightest possibility of a way forward then I will try and assist you further. I do know what I am talking about but this should not be a substitute for professional advice.

Regards
Ashley

[Snoopyseed]

Originally posted by Saffron@1st September 2004 - 08:57 AM
It's not that simple, Snoopy.

You cannot appeal simply because you do not think the jury made the right decision. There has to be proof that the trial was unfair, that new evidence has come to light, that the jury or the judge was predjudiced in some way.

In our case, there was no evidence other than his accuser's word, and no defence for us except my husband's word. We have consulted two different barristers who have both said that unless new evidence comes to light there are no grounds for appeal. For example, if she boasts that she made a false accusation to someone, then that person would have to go to the police and report what she had said. This is really the only way we will have grounds for appeal, because there were no forensics, despite samples being taken the day after the "assault."

When I found out that his accuser and her friends had been making up these lies about my husband, I rang the police because I was hopeful that it might have some bearing on the criminal case - showing malicious intent to cause further damage my husband. The police don't want to know. The solicitors I have contacted have said that because he has been convicted they do not wish to look at the case.

Everyone thinks that convicted individuals automatically have the right to appeal, but this is not true. For us, our hands are ties, and we have been let down so badly by the justice system that our lives will never be the same again.

hello there, i have just read your post, and see that you have already tried everything possible to help your husband, of course no appeal is that easy, i was just simply suggesting that you could ask for an appeal ,if you had not done so already but wether this would be taken up or not is up to the courts and of course if there is grounds for an appeal, based on evidence etc.If you have already spoken to the barristers and thye have explained that there is nothing that you or they can do although this is unfair, at least you know where you stand.
I could suggest that you seek some support of your own if you have not done this already.There isnt anything that you can do about your husbands situation at the moment, but you can help yourself by seeking some support for you.There are counsellors that can help you to deal with this, so you need not go through this on your own,or if friends and family could help you out, your husband should be able to send you a V.O so that you can visit him, i know that this is not ideal, but it can be a source of comfort.You need to be strong for both yourself and your husband, and to do this you need to take care of yourself, so that this doesnt have a bad effect on you, talking to someone can help, and remeber that whatever you tell your GP is confidential and private, good luck, and be gentle with yourself,
Snoopy

[Ashley]

Hello Snoopy,

To simply ask for an appeal is suicide.

There are matters relating to the process that you do not understand.

If you do not have good grounds of appeal that Counsel is prepared to argue the Court of Appeal will dismiss the application. Many applications are dismissed even when signed by Counsel.

If your application is dismissed, that is the end of the matter, you only get the one chance, you cannot renew the application direct to the Court.

The only way forward is through the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and I can tell you that the current waiting time for them to process renewed applications is 2 to 3 YEARS.

Your pastoral advice is wonderful and I am sure much appreciated by a lot of people, do be careful with lay legal advice, the Court of Appeal is a very complex chemistry.

Regards,
Ashley

[Saffron]

Hi Ashley and Snoopy

Thanks for the practical advice - you are right, I am up to my neck in tea, cakes and shoulders to cry on! Of course I am not dismissing this support as it is very comforting, but practical advice is what I need...

Our solicitor claims to have asked for access to the complainant's medical records, but apparently this was refused. Is this possible?

We know that his accuser was on medication for a heart condition, and that she should not have mixed alcohol with these drugs. However, when the CPS queried her on this, she denied taking any prescribed drugs. Therefore our counsel did not make reference to it. We also know that she uses recreational drugs, but again, our counsel did not make reference to this.

Would it be possible to gain access to her medical records now? of course the standard time for lodging an appeal has expired, although I know they are sometimes granted under exceptional circumstances.

Additionally, if an appeal is granted and the conviction upheld, will my husband have to serve an additional sentence?

Snoopy, I am seeing a counsellor regularly who is teaching me ways to control my thought processes and control my fury! Not sure if it is helping yet, but I am working on it...

Thanks for your replies, both of you.

[Ashley]

Hello Saffron,

I am not saying some solicitors are good and others bad, simply that some have particular fields of expertese. In a case like your husbands, in which credibility was crucial, an experienced solicitor would have applied for disclosure of medical records, which he/she did. The prosecution would likely refuse them (which they did) claiming that it was nothing more than a 'fishing expedition'.
However, a very experienced solicitor would know that medical records are a fertile source of information in respect of psychological disturbance and he/she could have applied to the Court for disclosure.

Your question is: can they be obtained now?

The short answer is NO, the prosecution duty of disclosure only applies to the trial process. That is sadly over and so is their duty of disclosure.

As you rightly say, appeals have to be lodged within a certain time, 28 days from conviction. You are also correct that they can be lodged long after this period, many years even, BUT another hurdle then has to be overcome. The Court have to give permission to appeal out of time, essentially an additional step in the process. They will require good reason, which might be for instance a Barrister does not agree with the original advice on appeal, or fresh evidence has come to light which could not reasonably have been obtained at the time of trial or within those 28 days.

You also ask about serving an additional sentence if the conviction is upheld.

The Court of Appeal can discount the period served between lodging an appeal and the appeal being dismissed. Effectively, that period has to be served again.
However, this could only happen if the grounds of appeal are frivolous and submitted by the applicant, it will NEVER happen if they are signed by Counsel.
Most commonly the Court imposes a penalty on applicants who submit frivolous grounds, usually 7 - 28 days.

Hope this is of some assistance and comfort.

If you have a question that is more personal as opposed to a wider interest you can email me. I will do my best to answer it.

[Saffron]

Interesting, thank you Ashley. I went to see my husband yesterday (on our wedding anniversary). He is coping ok, and is hoping to be allowed out on resettlement leave for a short period soon.
I appreciate your advice. I have no idea if we will be able to do anything to appeal, but will wait for my husband to come home and then we can discuss it together.
The decision over what to do rests ultimately with him. to have the conviction upheld wouold be like hearing the foreman of the jury say "guilty" all over again.
Anyway, I really appreciate you taking the time to give me this advice.

Thanks.