Trial in days..... pleaase help!

[Soul2soul]

@ RF

Me and clerk/sol went through the accuser interview but she did not have insight into the allegations and we did not go through all pages.We never went through witness statements, people she told that is.

I had underlined my queries but we only met for an hour tops and it was kind of rushed i thought we will meet again. Some things i havent raised with them , things i remember with time as this is a old allegation.

Only sat down with barrister once but as i said my own investigation into my defence was fruitless with regards to phone records etc hence they dont see the point of another meeting. All clerk sais is i will have time with them before proceedings.

Thanks

[Rights Fighter]

They should have given you copies of everything, so you could go through it in your own time, as well as with the sol/clerk. This really is not good enough.

We can speak over the weekend.

[AmandaF]

That's what happened to us- we were given very little time to go through statements and were told not to bother reading any police statements as they only dealt with procedure. It was only at trial that we realised the statement of the arresting officer conflicted with those of the accusers.
Too late by then so please make sure you get to read everything !!

[Soul2soul]

RF dont know jow to pm
can i send my landline here pls
to be honest i dont care who will call
need the help

[Rights Fighter]

Do not put your contact details on here. You don't know who would make ill use of it.

I've just sent you a PM

[Rights Fighter]

In fact it might be more helpful to write what I would say to you, here, as it might help others in the same situation.

Ring the solicitors tomorrow and ask to speak with the senior partner.

Tell them that:

1: you have no confidence in the barrister or the solicitor/clerk

this is because:

a: the solicitor/clerk ignores your queries and fears and doesn't pass messages to the barrister from you


b: you have not yet had a proper consultation with the barrister and therefore you have no idea

what the defence strategy is;


c: you have no idea what to expect during the course of the trial


d: you need tips on how to present yourself but no advice is forthcoming


e: a five minute meeting before the trial starts will be nowhere near enough to provide you with the information and guidance that you need

Because of the above, and if things do not change for the better, you tell the partner that you will, before the trial starts, ask the dock officer and/or the usher if you can speak to the judge before the trial starts.

You tell the partner that when you speak to the judge you will repeat everything from 1 - 1e.

You tell the partner that you will then ask the judge if you can change representation. Tell the partner that if the judge says you cannot change representation, then you can say that that might mean you have to cross-examine your complainant, which is not appropriate.

That should galvanise the partner into doing something positive and helpful.



I am actually in the middle of something now so I wouldn't be able to ring from now on. I was half expecting to hear from you yesterday or earlier today. Try the suggestion above and come back tomorrow afternoon and tell us what the senior partner says.

[Shah]

We had this last week.
My son never even had the same barrister at his trial that he saw at his first meeting with the barrister before trial!

[Soul2soul]

@Shah thanks for input
If you dont mind me asking what was the verdict? Hope it was positive

@RF i have been intouch with sol, the senior partner just called me, he reassures all will be well. And if i have doubts before trial not to go ahead, which i wont honestly coz its my life on the line.

I will see how things go beforehand and i might take your advice.

Thanks for the wonderful job you do here, may God Bless You.

[Shah]

Guilty on all 5 counts

We were totally unprepared
Had I had my wits about me I would have been in here earlier
but we assumed common sense would prevail it never and now
my poor son is going to pay the price

Good luck

[NandS]

Luck

Just wanted to wish you good luck for your trial. My partners is just over two weeks away and it's a nasty position to be in. Stay strong and will be thinking of you x

[SalvationNeeded123]

Guilty on all 5 counts

We were totally unprepared
Had I had my wits about me I would have been in here earlier
but we assumed common sense would prevail it never and now
my poor son is going to pay the price

Good luck

I wish you all the best for you and your son. Did you also have a legal aid solicitor, or did you go privately?

Did they not have a defence strategy to begin with?

[Shah]

Not sure
It was a case of if the jury had any doubt then to aquit my son but by all accounts
they were second week jury and obviouly took a dislike to my son on the first day

Sorry I was not there at the trial we just thought about all the facts that it would be ok
ie: post it notes, no dates because he worked away a lot etc ( even the ex didnt believe it )

[SalvationNeeded123]

Not sure
It was a case of if the jury had any doubt then to aquit my son but by all accounts
they were second week jury and obviouly took a dislike to my son on the first day

Sorry I was not there at the trial we just thought about all the facts that it would be ok
ie: post it notes, no dates because he worked away a lot etc ( even the ex didnt believe it )

I see. What do you mean by second week jury?

[Rights Fighter]

It means that the same jurors had been jurors the week before in a different matter (or the same matter if the trial went on for two weeks)

[Shah]

They had been on another trial pervioulsy.

No our trial was 2 days then verdict on the wednesday