ac2.4 assess key influences affecting the outcome of criminal cases

Question 1

factors that influence the outcome of criminal cases

Answer 1

• evidence presented in court
• witnesses, expert witnesses
• barristers and legal teams
• political factors
• the media

Question 2

influence of evidence

Answer 2

• jury/magistrates must take into account all physical and testimonial evidence of witnesses presented in court
• police/other investigators must provide enough evidence to secure a case
• prosecution will present evidence and arguments against the defendant, defence will challenge prosecution’s case cross-examining the prosecution’s witnesses on their evidence and presenting evidence of their own
• prosecution must have convinced the accused is guilty ‘beyond reasonable doubt’

Question 3

the influence of media

Answer 3

• media can affect the outcome of a criminal case
• certain high-profile cases attract a great deal of media interest and sensationalised reporting, often with extremely negative coverage of the defendant’s character/private life, may make a fair trial impossible
• media portray the accused as guilty instantly

Question 4

how do witnesses give their evidence

Answer 4

• witnesses give their evidence to the court in person
• there are two exceptions: where the witnesses’ evidence is agreed by both parties it can be given in the form of a written statement, vulnerable or intimidated witnesses may be allowed to give their evidence via live video, recording rather then attending court or from behind a screen

Question 5

the influence of witnesses

Answer 5

• witnesses can be called by both sides, the examination-in-chief
• defence may choose to cross-examine them by questioning them on the evidence they have given
• jurors or magistrates may give whatever weight they choose to the evidence of witnesses

Question 6

the influence of stereotyping

Answer 6

• danger that racial prejudices or gender stereotypes held by jurors may influence how willing they are to believe a witness’ testimony
• factors such as a witness’ gender, ethnicity, class, age, appearance, demeanor, accent, or personality affect the weight juries give to their evidence, affecting the outcome of the case

Question 7

the influence of eye witnesses

Answer 7

• evidence isn’t always accurate
• psychology studies show that eye witness’ memory can be highly inaccurate
• innocence project, 70% of 352 wrongful convictions were helped with eye-witness misidentification to convict an innocent person

Question 8

the influence of expert witnesses

Answer 8

• people with specialist knowledge that ordinary members of the public dont have
• testimony given by expert witnesses can be crucial in determining the outcome of a case
• one danger is that jurors may automatically assume the expert is right, or misunderstand the information
• misscarriages of justice, even if the jury understand what the expert is telling them, they are probably unable to check its accuracy

Question 9

the influence of politics

Answer 9

• politicians in parliament can affect the criminal law and outcome of cases in three ways:
  1. creating new offences
  2. abolishing existing offences
  3. changing the penalties

Question 10

the influence of the judiciary

Answer 10

• judge has several key powers and responsibilities
• clarify the law for the jury and direct them on how it is to be applied in the case they are trying
• to rule on the admissibility of evidence and on whether the line on questioning taken by the prosecution or defence is permissible
• to sum up the main issues and evidence in the case of the jury before they retire to consider their verdict
• judge also has the power to dismiss a case, order a re-trial or even direct the jury to bring in a particular verdict

Question 11

deciding the sentence - the judiciary

Answer 11

• judges and magistrates have discretion in what sentences they hand down and this will affect the outcome of cases before them

Question 12

juryless trial

Answer 12

• CJA 2003, a judge may sit without jury where:
• the risk of jury tampering is imposed
• in complex fraud cases, where a jury might have difficulty in understanding, or in attending court for months on end

Question 13

the influence of judicial bias

Answer 13

• bias can lead to an unfair result
• can arise due to class background and gender
• class background, judges come mainly from higher social classes, 2019 65% of senior judges were privately educated, 75% had attended oxford or cambridge universities, judges may be overly sympathetic to higher classes
• gender, 68% of court judges are male, danger that male judges may lack sympathy for female victims

Question 14

the influence of barristers and legal teams

Answer 14

• barristers quality can affect the outcome of a case
• cost of a barrister, the rich may be able to afford better representation in court giving a greater chance of the verdict going in their favour
• plea bargaining, legal team often involved (pleading guilty to a lesser offence with a lower sentence rather than pleading not guilty to a more serious one) prosecution team may agree to this influencing the outcome of a case
• juror infatuation, have been reports of jurors ‘falling for’ barrister and changing their verdict as a result