Bad Character, Hearsay & PACE - A Guide for the Trial Advocate - Live at Your Desk

Introduction

With the pressures of attending court becoming greater year on year, it’s imperative to have a good understanding and working knowledge of both legislation and case law in relation to applications. Better Case Management (BCM) expects that applications in relation to the trial will be dealt with at the very first hearing, when only a cursory glance of the papers has taken place.

This live broadcast session is focused on arming the trial advocate with the tools necessary to deal with these applications expeditiously and effectively at the first hearing.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive broadcast will cover the following:

Bad Character & Hearsay

• Bad character in domestic violence cases - how to deal with previous unproven allegations and putting your character in issue
• Section 98 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 - do I need to make an application at all?
• The circumstances in which the Crown or defence may make an application that the defendant’s or witness's bad character becomes part of the evidence during the currency of the trial
• Dishonesty and telling lies in criminal proceedings - is there a difference and what might the consequences be?
• Understanding the ‘gateways’ and the use to which bad character evidence may be put
• How to oppose it at the time and how to deal with it in a closing speech if it has formed part of the evidence during the course of the trial
• The circumstances in which the Crown (or the defence) may introduce hearsay evidence during the trial
• ‘Res gestae’ in criminal proceedings - what does the case law say - especially in respect of domestic violence cases
• Phone calls and text messages - are they hearsay or not?
• The ‘qualitative value’ of hearsay evidence and what to say about it in your closing speech
• The circumstances in which something may look suspiciously like hearsay and yet it isn’t hearsay at all (upon what basis is the evidence being introduced by the party?)

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE)

• Section 74 - convictions of others and its admission. What does the case law say about excluding potentially highly damaging applications?
• Exclusion of evidence under s. 76 & 78 of PACE. What’s the procedure?
• Is the evidence really unfair? What’s the test?
• s. 76 of PACE - exclusion of confessions & co-defendants. When is a co-defendant not a co-defendant?
• ‘Voir dires’ and skeleton arguments - how do I structure the application?

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.