19 days

[sqounk]

Shown remorse for what he has done when he pled and was found not guilty? No wonder they didn't want to use that. Hopefully your barrister can make use of it. The system is appalling - and they want to change things so that the 'victims' drive the investigation. Madness heaped on madness!!

The whole point of the judicial system is you go to it when you are wronged and seek justice (whatever that means) for you objectively, without malice and prejudice. There should be a statutory obligation that the term "victim" is not used until it is proven that the claimant is a victim in a court of law, because it naturally prejudices the investigation/process.

[Aidy]

Hi Farmer, I am in the same boat mate, although my trial is a little longer away!
I have exactly the same feelings as you mate!
One day I am flying, so confident that she hasn't got a leg to stand on with he obvious lies...and other days I imagine being inside prison and trying to get my head around that scenario!!

The fact of the matter is you go to court and hold your head high!
Show the jury what type of character you are, and leave your Barrister to do their job!

I wish you the best of luck and hope you get the correct result

[terrifieddad]

Some thoughts having stood trial recently myself.

Firstly to address your fears. Yes, the nerves will be kicking in and the butterflies will be getting worse on a daily basis. There is very little that will prevent that. It's something you just have to deal with I'm afraid, but knowing that this is your chance at long last to put this to bed once and for all will ease the feeling. Keeping busy will help too. Nerves are natural and it would be more worrying if you were complacent. The nerves will make sure you are on your guard and focused on the job in hand.

Secondly, the practical stuff. Do dress smartly - it helps to hold yourself in a dignified way. Do take the fabled "nasty bag". You hope you will never need it, but should the worst happen, it will be the first of your little victories that will get you through. Think of it as your umbrella - if you take it and it doesn't rain, you've lost nothing. Imagine not taking it when it does rain! Do take provisions for breaks. You will not know whether you can leave the building until after the trial has started. Even if you are able to go out for lunch, there may be other breaks especially early on if another case is overrunning, so you will want refreshments. You will not be able to take food and drink into the dock. If at all possible, do have supporters with you. Never underestimate the power of close friends and family.

Thirdly, advice for the proceedings themselves. As I alluded to earlier, it is possible that other cases will interfere with yours. Do not worry about this. Of course if this happens on day 1, it may delay the start and does nothing for your nerves. Do ask your barrister about taking notes and if you can, do so. For the most part you will just be listening. Just remain calm throughout.

I cannot offer advice for when you take the stand, as it proved unnecessary in my case. Assume you will have to and if you say things to your barrister about the case and ask if it's something to mention when you take the stand, it will let him/her know that you intend to do so. Then if they strongly recommend that you consider your right not to give evidence, you will know that this is thinly veiled advice - they cannot advise you directly as it has to be your choice. But you will have an idea how much damage the prosecution has done to its own case by then. If your FA's husband is to act as a witness, he could well be a better defense witness than you could wish for. But don't count on it and be prepared to give your side on the stand. And remember that less is often more. There will be pauses while counsel and the judge catch up taking notes, but don't be tempted to fill the silence!

Listen carefully to the judge's summing up. It may well give you some comfort when the jury is sent out. It may not. I was lucky that it appeared to tear the crown case to shreds, so I was quietly confident of the right verdict. It certainly allowed me to enjoy the lunch break more than I would have. But of course it is never over until the last verdict is delivered.

In short, it will be a tough week and it will certainly be a rollercoaster ride. But you will get through it. The majority of the time in court is pretty boring really. It is nothing like it is on TV. At least until your cross-examination and then all bets are off.

Above all, hold your head up. Fair judges and intelligent jurors are the rule, not the exception, despite how baffling certain public votes may seem!

Good luck!

[Aidy]

Thank you terrifieddad, that is a really great post!
I personally have taken a lot of positive points from it, and I hope the original poster and other forum members take something from it too!

[farmer42]

Thank you very much for the replies the support and advice helps tremendously. Terrifieddad I did follow your trial updates on here and was really happy to see you get the verdict you deserve.
My legal clerk said to me that the prosecutor doing the case did not want it to go ahead but she has to whatever that means and if it’s even true.
One point for example the accuser states that after the alleged incident at the start of 2014 she never let me near her flat again she says no way would she put herself in that position again she says this in the 3 statements she did over the year I was on bail. When I saw, she said this I handed my solicitor pictures of me and my partner in her flat at her birthday party at the end of 2014 (dated pictures) with her laughing holding round me for the picture its clearly her flat as there’s pictures of her kids on the wall in the back ground and pictures of her, so the police went back to her asked her again has he been to your flat since the alleged incident and for a 4th time she says no never. This is just one thing in many many lies I have proven.

[farmer42]

I am just curios if any one has experienced this situation I have added below and what the out come was,

The accuser has said I went to her house at 11pm and left at 6am I have clearly said in my interview I have never stayed away from my partners all night and I live with her we had only lived together 2 months prior to the date she is saying the allegation took place, any way when I was released I told my partner the allegation to which she said she would 100% remember if I was out all night it was not something she would forget we immediately told the police this had she did a statement saying I have never have stayed out all night. Now my solicitors saying she can say this in court but they will not take it in to much as she is my partner and bound to say anything to protect me. Now she is a really upstanding citizen never ever been in trouble good job good family and they believe she would lie about such a thing is there any point me putting her through the turmoil of giving evidence if she will just be called a liar and not believed

[Aidy]

I am just curios if any one has experienced this situation I have added below and what the out come was,

The accuser has said I went to her house at 11pm and left at 6am I have clearly said in my interview I have never stayed away from my partners all night and I live with her we had only lived together 2 months prior to the date she is saying the allegation took place, any way when I was released I told my partner the allegation to which she said she would 100% remember if I was out all night it was not something she would forget we immediately told the police this had she did a statement saying I have never have stayed out all night. Now my solicitors saying she can say this in court but they will not take it in to much as she is my partner and bound to say anything to protect me. Now she is a really upstanding citizen never ever been in trouble good job good family and they believe she would lie about such a thing is there any point me putting her through the turmoil of giving evidence if she will just be called a liar and not believed

Hi Farmer, my case is also very near, and I have 2 similar things!
One is the accuser said they told a family member that I was showing her porn magazines, and even shown them where they were hidden (family member is backing me in court to say this never happened)
Also accuser claims I orally raped her, and another family member walked in (and never said anything??) (again they are backing me up in court to say its a lie!)

Now I guess the jury could think they are trying to protect me??
On the otherhand, it could quite clearly show her up for the liar she is!!

Imo if your partner can testify and back you up, then go for it!

Obviously I am not an expert...this is just my humble opinion!

[farmer42]

Thank you for the reply, I read something rather encouraging where it said if the CPS were not sure who was telling the truth they would give the defendant and the accuser the chance to put it in front of the jury and let them decide hence why so many go to court.

Personally if I knew someone was 100% guilty of a crime like this family member best friend child anyone I would not go to court to protect them so we need to just both hope the jury take the same view.

[terrifieddad]

It will have to be a decision for you, her and your defence team. Evidence of an alibi, however flimsy, must be taken into account. It is true that the jury may be reminded of how little weight they should attach to her evidence and if she cracks under cross-examination it could do more harm than good. All that said, the truth is a powerful thing. If your stories match and are true, it could be enough to cast sufficient doubt on the prosecution case.

What I do know that if she is to appear as a witness, she will not be able to be in the public gallery until after she has given evidence. You will have to weigh the value of the support in the courtroom against the value of her testimony. At the end of the day I would think that just the threat of her testimony might provide the defence with some leverage in cross-examination of the complainant. It is therefore possible that she won't have to give evidence but won't be able to watch the trial until the closing speeches.

Not an easy decision to make. I imagine that your defence team will be managing your expectations somewhat. It has to be said that it is unlikely that a woman would lie to protect a rapist, and most jurors will bear that in mind even if they are told not to attach too much weight to her testimony. As a sworn testimony it is equally as valid as that of any other witness.

[Peter1975]

Your mobile phone companies records may corroborate where you were that night.

Personally, I had just my brother in law in the public gallery while my parents were outside.What mattered to me was that they were there even if they couldn't come in to the court itself. If you have a witness that can help then it's a no brainer for me. There may be an advantage in having as many people in the court as possible supporting you in the eyes of a jury but that is less important than the evidence your OH can give.

Don't worry about her being called a liar, she can simply say "I have sworn to tell the truth and if I thought he was cheating on me for a second I would not be with him - he was certainly not out all night" I would expect her to be on the stand for all of 5 minutes if she is required.

[farmer42]

Thank you for the reply guys, I think I will let her say her peace after all it is the truth as we know it. It’s just hard as she is so sensitive and it would kill me to see her cry and not be able to do anything about it.

Mixed reviews on support in the gallery some say that the jury can be intimidated with all the supporters staring and some say that the jury will question why no one is there to support him.

Mobile phone records unavailable as she is saying this was 3 years ago already tried, this historic allegation **** is a perfect crime for a women no proof doesn’t matter I am sure you wouldn’t lie I mean why would they. Roll on getting our life back.

[farmer42]

I know I keep posting on here I’m just so frustrated and scared just over a week till my trial and in just under a year all my legal clerk has done is give all my new evidence to the police to re-question the accuser no work at all on the case I phone every single day and all I get is yes he’s busy he will call back and never does I feel if you are on legal aid does not stand a chance.

[YearsOfHell]

It's really hard that your life is now in someone else's hands.
There must be stuff going on in preparation for the trial behind the scenes.
Trust your innocence.
Our case didn't go to trial but others have.
Keep reading what they have said about the process.
And how it all works.
It is just a process to the legal teams involved and they do this job day in day out.
It may seem as though nothing is happening, but once the trial starts things will get moving.
You'll know more after the first day.
I believe some information is kept right up until then by the prosecution!!!
Just make sure you're prepared to answer with clear and simple replies.
You didn't do it.
Hang in there.
YoH

[terrifieddad]

Hi Farmer42. I understand your frustration completely. I remember that feeling - right up until the trial - of trying to get hold of my legal team. It feels like banging your head against a brick wall. You feel like you are doing all the work and they are doing nothing. This is not the case.

It is true to a certain extent that this is "par for the course" on legal aid. They are paid pretty much a fixed and relatively low fee for their work. When you employ someone through private funds, they can charge you for the time they spend trying to allay your fears. It does not mean that they would work any harder on your case itself.

In my case it turned out that my legal team had done far more digging than I ever thought possible. Evidence I knew nothing about until it came out in court! This could well be the same for you. It's too late to change anything now, so you need to trust your team, but be prepared to be proactive too.

If you still have any worries, it is no harm to tell your solicitor that you are worried about the lack of communication. Send an email and follow it up with a phone call.

[Peter1975]

I will just briefly echo terrified dads well put experiences with legal aid and say that your lawyers are most likely busy behind the scenes when they are not working on other cases.

I was in exactly the same boat but didn't bother my legal team as I knew they were busy. I just turned up and there they were and like TD I was impressed at the work they had done to prepare. They will work with the information already given so unless you have thought of anything else to pass on to them my advice would be to try not to worry about the lack of activity and make sure you look after yourself physically ready for the mental challenges you will face and deal with next week. TD is also correct in saying that they should provide some reassurance if you need it but explains well that they are both busy with multiple cases and not paid by the hour. (TD usually covers everything I would say so I don't bother posting much - Cheers TD!)

As for the jury being intimidated my opinion is as stated above but you are right, I should have added that anyone that supports you in the courtroom should be under strict instructions NEVER to eyeball the jury and keep their eyes on the person speaking at all times. The same rule should apply to yourself except when you are addressing them on the witness stand. Then you look them all in the eye (but no staring) and talk to them as though you are having a conversation in the pub as you answer the questions.

Lastly, put out of your mind TV drama's and anything you think you know about being in court. It really is nothing like that and although your OH will be emotional and nervous her evidence is very straight forward and should be dealt with quickly, possibly by just your own barrister with the prosecutor asking no questions of her. Bullying witnesses does not happen like on TV and seems to be reserved for the defendant. You will no doubt be prepared for that as you are an intelligent man.

Best of luck to you.