HELP! My partner has been accused of sexually assualting a minor.

[Casehardened]

Hi BG2014,

I thought I better do some googling on this point and it seems that whichever side summons a witness does have the 'first innings' option in that they choose at what stage of the trial the witness gives evidence and gets to question the witness first.

Of course in your case, your partners barrister will then have the opportunity to cross-examine you and, as you will not be a hostile witness, his skills will draw out what you wanted to say all along (obviously you will need to give an indication to him via your partner as to what you want to say!)

There is a potential problem in that, on the day, the Crown may for some reason elect not to call you and therefore the opportunity for cross-examination and to give your evidence will be lost; it would be well worth discussing this possibility with his solicitor.

This link suggests that the defence can call prosecution witnesses not called by their own side so implies that there is indeed 'no property in a witness':

Accordingly Crown counsel was entitled not to call Juke, the law on this point being summarised by the Court of Appeal in R. v. Russell-Jones [1995] Cr. App. R. 538 at p. 544G:

". . . the prosecution ought normally to call or offer to call all the witnesses who give direct evidence of the primary facts of the case, unless for good reason, in any instance, the prosecutor regards the witness's evidence as unworthy of belief. In most cases the jury should have available all of that evidence as to what actually happened, which the prosecution, when serving statements, considered to be material, even if there are inconsistencies between one witness and another. The defence cannot always be expected to call for themselves witnesses of the primary facts whom the prosecution has discarded. For example, the evidence they may give, albeit at variance with other evidence called by the Crown, may well be detrimental to the defence case. If what a witness of the primary facts has to say is properly regarded by the prosecution as being incapable of belief, or as some of the authorities say 'incredible', then his evidence cannot help the jury assess the overall picture of the crucial events; hence, it is not unfair that he should not be called . . .

http://www.publications.parliament.u...24/mills01.htm

[babygal2014]

Hi BG2014,

I thought I better do some googling on this point and it seems that whichever side summons a witness does have the 'first innings' option in that they choose at what stage of the trial the witness gives evidence and gets to question the witness first.

Of course in your case, your partners barrister will then have the opportunity to cross-examine you and, as you will not be a hostile witness, his skills will draw out what you wanted to say all along (obviously you will need to give an indication to him via your partner as to what you want to say!)

There is a potential problem in that, on the day, the Crown may for some reason elect not to call you and therefore the opportunity for cross-examination and to give your evidence will be lost; it would be well worth discussing this possibility with his solicitor.

This link suggests that the defence can call prosecution witnesses not called by their own side so implies that there is indeed 'no property in a witness':

Accordingly Crown counsel was entitled not to call Juke, the law on this point being summarised by the Court of Appeal in R. v. Russell-Jones [1995] Cr. App. R. 538 at p. 544G:

". . . the prosecution ought normally to call or offer to call all the witnesses who give direct evidence of the primary facts of the case, unless for good reason, in any instance, the prosecutor regards the witness's evidence as unworthy of belief. In most cases the jury should have available all of that evidence as to what actually happened, which the prosecution, when serving statements, considered to be material, even if there are inconsistencies between one witness and another. The defence cannot always be expected to call for themselves witnesses of the primary facts whom the prosecution has discarded. For example, the evidence they may give, albeit at variance with other evidence called by the Crown, may well be detrimental to the defence case. If what a witness of the primary facts has to say is properly regarded by the prosecution as being incapable of belief, or as some of the authorities say 'incredible', then his evidence cannot help the jury assess the overall picture of the crucial events; hence, it is not unfair that he should not be called . . .

http://www.publications.parliament.u...24/mills01.htm

Hi thank you Casehardened for spending time looking up about this. This means so much to me and the information you have found is invaluable. I'm going to be speaking to his barrister next week. So I will show him this and see what he will be prepared to do if the prosecution decide not to call me up which my partners solicitor believe they will do. Now that I know without my evidence will make it an unfair trial for my partner and there is a way on the stand if the CPS try playing tricks.

Well today my partner went to his first appearance at Crown court. I'm afraid I wasn't able to go with him today as this week is bad for me with childcare. Before going in he was able to meet his barrister and go through quickly about the allegation, his recollection of what happened that night, the evidence the CPS have and everything that have happened since the allegation. His barrister seems to think that all the facebook stuff and her disclosure to her friends are a vital part of his defense. To me this is good news as his solicitor didn't entertain it much when I mentioned it.
My partner said he felt very nervous being led into the dock. What I am shocked about is that after the judge asked his name and address, he was trying to rush the case to trial. He wanted the plea hearing to be in three days and the trial to be in two weeks. Yet the prosecution have not handed the disclosure over, the defence witness statements have not been taken and they haven't even prepared his defense statement.

Our barrister had to stop the judge short and tell him about the revelations since the allegation and that important witnesses have not been interviewed yet. The judge was not happy but has agreed to put the plea hearing for 7th January and then the trial for 27th February. Which is the worst time possible for me as my baby due date is the 26th February. Just when you things can't get worse!

Another thing my partner said is that the judge shouted at the CPS for the insufficient evidence they have used to charge him with. He said that the forensic evidence is not good enough and doesn't prove anything, its not conclusive and with such a serious alleged offence why have they not followed forensic procedures properly. He asked them if their excuse was a lack of funding and to go back and do their homework. Also the CPS were unaware of the revelations since the allegation and looked lost when our barrister mentioned it. Which is their OIC's fault for not passing the information on to them. I am intrigued to now what forensic procedures were not followed properly and personally think that their investigation has been badly conducted and that by trying to say inconclusive forensic evidence is conclusive proof that he did it, is a complete miscarriage of justice. Wish the judge had just thrown it out instead :/

Also I forgot to say that apparently in the allegation the girl said that my partner disclosed to her that he was abused at the age of 11. That is so totally untrue and he loves his family to bits. His mum is a teacher and owns a school in ghana where over two hundred children attend every day and he was brought up with his eight siblings who have all progressed to be professionals such as gynecologists and now live in the USA. Her claims just get more ludicrous!

At this moment hes having a large shot of whisky to calm his nerves and I'm munching on some much needed chocolate.

[Casehardened]

Your partner is indeed fortunate to have you batting on his side; I have always maintained that the best defence is created from ammunition provided by the accused.

He said that the forensic evidence is not good enough and doesn't prove anything, its not conclusive and with such a serious alleged offence why have they not followed forensic procedures properly. He asked them if their excuse was a lack of funding and to go back and do their homework.

I can perhaps provide the explanation from personal experience: my OIC told me afterwards, that due to cost cutting, forensics on the bedding wouldn't have been checked unless I had been charged (and I know this explanation raises more questions than answers!!)

[babygal2014]

I hope everybody has had a lovely Christmas and New Year even if it is not under the best of circumstances. I hope that this year there is a resolution for many on here and that we see lots of NFA or Not Guilty verdicts. I also would like to thank everybody who has given myself and others support over the many months and that this forum has been a rock to me in times of need. The feeling that I’m not alone while I believe no one should be falsely accused it has been some support that I’m not alone in how I feel.
I haven’t posted on here for a while as to be honest I needed time out and went through a period of denial where I tried to pretend life was normal and so I concentrated on Christmas for my children. Now Christmas is gone and the New Year is upon us and my partners trial as well as the birth of our daughter is next month. Ironically the trial starts on my due date and I got to give evidence will a fully cooked baby in the oven :/
Anyway, also for a while I lost faith in the system and in anything really and was preparing myself for my partner going inside and being on my own. Well today, I had a wake up call and for once in my life I’m ready to fight. So I want to share with all of you some good news that I have found out. Okay, so my partner is not completely in the clear yet but there is hope:-
• Medical Report – No Evidence Internal or External.
• Forensic evidence – No Forensic Evidence that my partner touched this girl on him or her and actually they found more than one DNA on her boobs and it was not his.
• Her statement was not taken by video and it was done in her own home in the presence of her parents and was done by three police officers. The first officer being a trainee police officer. HMM to me that is a failure of police procedure in taking a statement from a vulnerable witness.
• She tells different stories to her mum, to her dad, to the doctors, to the police. Lots of inconsistencies about big parts of her story. She tells her mum and the police I was awake, she tells her dad and the doctors I was asleep.

But what gets under my skin the most that I did not know. Is that she has accused ME of waking up when apparently she was crying and I was supposed to be watching him on top of her without saying a thing and while my daughter was sleeping less than 10cm away from her. That apparently she cried out and then my partner put her in the corner of the room and threatened her. The corners of the room are inaccessible and I’m so surprised that the CPS are giving this girl time of day.
Now that is some crazy **** I have ever heard. I have been a mum more years than this girl has had cooked dinners and I would never allow or even watch a child being hurt by a man. In fact it would be me charged with whatever as I would have cut his balls off if I had woken up and found him on top of her and if it had been my child he would have been a dead man walking. So enough is enough and I have heard enough bull**** to last me a life time. I refuse to be a victim to this liar anymore.

SO THE FIGHT IS ON! ROLL ON TRIAL DAY I’M READY TO TAKE THE STAND AND NOT EVEN LABOUR IS GONNA STOP ME!

[Casehardened]

Hello again BG 2014,

Great to have you posting again & coming off the ropes in fighting spirit.....

As you know I've been keeping up with your posts but this latest revelation regarding you being an observer is just unbelievable (but once again has an uncanny parallel to my own experience!)

The whole thing is sounding more and more like someone has written a lurid plot for a soap and surely the CPS prosecutor is mightily embarrassed at trying to put this one over to the jury

On a serious note, as mentioned previously, be prepared for the CPS to 'excuse you' from giving evidence on the grounds of your advanced pregnancy and so sweep all these awkward revelations under the carpet (what I would do if I was in their shoes!)

[can it get worse]

Hi BG - What a great attitude you find yourself in this morning.

It is really encouraging that you feel like this. I got up this morning feeling rubbish but feel improved after reading your post.

It is so easy to slip into complacency and fail to recognise the positives in our cases.

The trial coinciding with the birth is dreadful but your fighting instincts seem to be kicking in.

Keep us updated. And many best wishes for the weeks ahead. I hope the accuser slips up very quickly.

[whatsgoingon?]

Happy New Year Babygal ! Glad to hear your fighting spirit has been tweaked - sometimes that little extra bit of bull**** is needed to really get the adrenaline flowing.

Just a word of caution about DNA and forensics: there's usually a cop-out clause from the lab which says that the absence of scientific evidence doesn't mean something didn't happen and should be considered alongside other available evidence. However, if you have a decent legal team, I think they're going to have a field day in court exposing the true version of events.

I hope you're looking after yourself as well as supporting your partner and looking after your kids single handedly. You sound like a pretty amazing person.

[babygal2014]

Hi Casehardened and thanks for replying and also for keeping up with my posts.

It feels great to be back and in fighting spirit and I completely agree that this allegation does sound like something you would see on Eastenders and its probably even to far fetched for that. Her lies sounds so far from reality and I really do hope that the jury pick up on this as anyone with common sense will see big holes in her story.
I spoke to RF before christmas and she agrees that if the CPS do try the tactic of excusing me then my partners barrister is allowed to use me as a defence witness. So I hope that they do if thats the case or even adjourn it. But I hope they do.
I think your right that this case is an embarrassment for the CPS and that the best bit yet is they don't know what is about to hit them in the face. They never took my daughters statement who was in the room and so I would love to see the CPS barristers face when he watches / reads her statement over the next few weeks. They gonna wish they took her statement before charging him and wasting public money on a circus of a court case.

[babygal2014]

Hi Whatsgoingon,

Thanks for your support as well and your kind words. I'm only keeping strong because of my family and my partner as I would have nothing without them and they make me what I am today.

You are right to heed caution as I know that even with what I found out yesterday about the lack of medical and forensic evidence, the CPS will still try and argue their case and it all depends on the jury of the day and he could still be convicted based on the lies this girl has told. Plus now I'm looking at some ugly questioning in court for allegations against me that I have only just learnt about to top it off.

We are lucky, because without this forum I would not have looked for the right legal team in Cardiff to represent him and he would have been stuck with that awful duty solicitor who told him that there was a low copy of dna of the girl found on his fingers when there wasn't and telling him the girl was bruised and scratched when that was untrue as well. She also sent a letter confirming this an old address of his knowing he was no longer there and which was opened by a now ex friend of him. When she knew he had moved because she had applied for the change of bail conditions.
I researched solicitors in my area and found one that has been successfully defending his clients against charges such as terrorism, murder and sexual offences for thirty years. He is also highly respected by the Crown judiciary and used to be a CPS barrister years ago. So I can only hope and keep my fingers and toes crossed!

[myhome]

HI BG - great to see you back here and better still - in such a positive frame of mind. lots of mistakes as you say and things that are being brought up as after thoughts to make a "better" case. trouble if, after thoughts can easily be disproven....good luck with you fight with this, you pregnancy and birth and the trial. You're some strong woman to be coping with all this - full of admiration for you.....