Dad falsely accused of sexually assaulting sister-Solicitors are a shambles

[Rights Fighter]

Good character references SHOULD be used at trial. Many sols/barristers only ask for them at sentence. The reason I say that evidence of good character should be used is that, if nobody speaks up for him, the jury would be left wondering "why is nobody speaking for him? Does he have no support? Why is that?" Insist on it. It would not be a ground to appeal with should it go horribly wrong, but you are at least showing the jury he is supported.

With regards to what I said about evidence (Facebook and similar) - this is important. Many complainants write a "Victim Impact Statement" where they list how the abuse has affected them through their life up to current times. They often give the same sort of evidence when being interviewed. All when and good if they are making true allegations.

In false allegation cases, they will often say how the alleged abuse has ruined their lives, can't get involved with men, no social life etc.... This in law is called "creating a false impression".

In law, the defendant is entitled to "correct that false impression" using evidence such as screenshots from Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else, where it is relevant.

If the complainant has not "created a false impression" then such evidence would not be admissible. It's only admissible in 'correcting the false impression'.

By the same token, in genuine cases where abuse is alleged, the defendant will sometimes 'create the false impression' of what a jolly good chap he is, gets on with everybody, is placid, never drinks and never been in trouble with the police. If he does that, evidence can be put that 'corrects that false impression' where, maybe, for argument's sake, he's been been in trouble for fighting when drunk on several occasions. That evidence would not be admissible if he does not make such false claims though.

Evidence of bad character of the defendant or the complainant can only be put if it is relevant to the allegations, or if it 'corrects a false impression'.

You cannot just put evidence to the jury, that the complainant is a bit of a tart, or has mental health problems, if it is not entirely relevant to the allegations, and also what she told the police in interview or in her VIS.

[Rights Fighter]

Also I must just say

Do not forget the solicitor is there to work the case for the barrister, and they are the go between for you.

.....is not strictly true. The solicitor instructs the barrister (that doesn't mean they tell him what to do. In law 'instructs' means, basically, to give all the information necessary to the barrister and the barrister then uses it to make his or her case. It is team work. Or supposed to be.

Some barristers will take instructions directly from the client as well as the solicitor, providing their instructions (information) is relevant and admissible. A good barrister will explain why certain evidence you might want to put, is not admissible/relevant.

Are you able to PM yet? When you read the forums a year ago, did you join back then?

[ashm3110]

Unfortunately we can't PM as we only officially joined last night.

So in order to become a character witness, do we need to wait until the day of the trial or can we insist on organizing this sooner do you know?

Not only do we have Facebook evidence of the period since she has made the allegations, but we also have Facebook evidence from the same weeks as the alleged rapes. This includes statuses about her new romance with a much older man (my fathers best friend actually) and none of which give any indication of a person who has been sexually abused.

We also have knowledge of her making unofficial accusations of other men violently and sexually abusing her. Unfortunately, as she didn't make these official, there is no physical documentation of this, only "word of mouth." We are able to get a statement off a former friend of hers giving information regarding the numerous allegations she has made previously. Will this be considered as a liable source do you think?

Thank you once again for the kindness you have all shown to my father and our family.

[Rights Fighter]

Organise it asap and tell your sol that you want good character references given. As I said, it doesn't prove something happened or didn't happen but it does show the jury that there are people who do not believe it. All grist to the mill, as they say.

The photos from Facebook would only be admissible to correct a false impression. The fact she has a new boyfriend, or has ten boyfriends a week does not disprove the allegations. People who have been abused often go on to be promiscuous because they believe it's how to get 'love' and attention so is not evidence that somebody cannot have been abused.

You can try to persuade the barrister to look at the evidence of previous false allegations but it would be down to the judge as to whether they will allow that evidence to go before the jury. Usually they will not unless it has been a proved false allegation.

Having said that I assisted with a trial in 2012 where the complainant had made previous false allegations of rape/sexual abuse and that was allowed in despite no police being involved in that. The sister of the boy who had been accused gave evidence about that so it's not impossible to get that sort of evidence in, but it must be persuasive - other evidence to prove it was a lie.

It seems from what you say, that the sol is not doing a good job of instructing counsel. That means you might have to 'instruct' him yourself during the course of the trial but you have to approach this carefully. You cannot say "I insist you use such and such". You can ask them if evidence you have collected is relevant and explain briefly why you think it is.

If counsel says "go to the solicitor and tell them as they are instructing me, not you" you can say maybe, that you have tried that but the sol appears not to be listening and clearly you are running out of time.

The court where the trial will be - is this north, north west, north east, midlands, south, south west or south east?

[ashm3110]

Thanks, that really helps. We will try to go through the solicitor on Monday but will continue our own work in case of his continued incompetence.

If convicted (god forbid) will my father be able to appoint a new legal aid solicitor / barrister at this stage? Could the mishaps of his current ones be taken into account? Also, if it comes to this, is the process of appeal long?

The court is actually about two hours away from us, which has been another nightmare. We are in the north-west and I think the courts location is still classed as the NW.

[Rights Fighter]

You can instruct a new solicitor for appeal purposes should the worse case scenario occur. The defendant is entitled to a written document called an "Advice on Appeal", positive or negative.

The Court of Appeal rarely accepts criticism of trial sols and barrister. In one case I was heavily involved with (known as my "Mr Kaz Appeal) trial counsel was not criticised as such as our appeal barrister didn't want to appear to be doing that, but CA recognised that trial counsel's response (as to why certain evidence I found in the family court bundle was not used), was not truthful. That evidence should have been used and we won. However, that is VERY rare that evidence available at the time of trial is accepted by CA. Trial counsel was then sue and she settled out of court

With regards to Facebook evidence, it might help if you can, to scroll right back on the profiles you are monitoring, to see when each witness became 'friends' on FB.

Often the complainant lies, saying that she had not seen certain witnesses and had not heard from them until very recently, yet there is evidence that they were in touch on FB long before they claimed to be. Some people are stupid enough to discuss the upcoming case too, which can be very helpful if they claim never to have discussed the matter.

I asked where your trial was because I though that maybe if it was closer to me I could have offered support.

If you are on Facebook look for PAFAA with SOFAP private group (also a public awareness page) and ask to join the group. You will be sent a PM as to why you wish to join and you can explain who you are there. I can then maybe help you further by phone.

[is there justice?]

I really really feel for you.

There are 2 pieces of advice I would have given, the first to change legal team but it is probably too late.

The second is, however tense and strained things become, DO NOT let him be bullied into any sort of plea bargain on the day. At that late stage it makes very little difference to sentence anyway and it removes all chance of a not guilty plea and all chance of an appeal.

I cannot stress how much pressure will be applied for a plea bargain by an inept legal team. Be prepared.

Xx

[Rights Fighter]

Great advice ITJ

[ashm3110]

Thanks for the good advice that will be very helpful. We have got together a number of character witnesses. From now and the time of the alleged assaults. I might add that apparently she has said that she never said no, so surely this can't be considered rspe anyway? The complainans side gave statements which seem to contradict each other on dates and times. I.e 3 different accounts say a different story for when she moved out. Her partner has also claimed that in one of my dads previous relationships the little girl was scared of him but this is an utter lie. She has also said that she started her relationship with my dads friend when she moved out but I have the Facebook evidence that shows otherwise. There's just so many lies and contradictions, I really don't understand how it has even gone this far. I'm going to speak to my step brother who was in her friend circle at the time, to get some more info. Would it be evidence if he did a statement? She says her boyfriend at the time was violent but it was the other way round. I've asked the boyfriend for a statement but he won't as my sister was underage when they started going out. I just really don't know how I can help my dad. It really seems like they have just made up a story and all we can do is deny it and then the jury decides who is telling the truth. It all just seems a bit playgroundy surely this is not how the law weeks....

[Rights Fighter]

Sadly this is exactly how the law works - one word again another.

If your stepbrother can give evidence that contradicts what the complainant says in terms of the allegations or the circumstances, that could well be evidence. It really depends on what he can say. For instance, he won't be allowed to say "she was a right tart" (if she was) or "she was a heavy drinker and her language is foul" as that is not evidence of the allegations or circumstances.

[ashm3110]

Trial adjourned until a later date. The judge has asked for my fathers medical records. Is this positive news? Would we be able to change solicitors now we have time? Thanks.