Statements made out of court

Question 1

Who does a bench warrant apply to?

Answer 1

Defendant

Question 2

s9 Criminal Justice Act 1967

Answer 2

Reading out AGREED statements

Question 3

s118CJA

Answer 3

Public information (which includes, for example, registers of birth and marriage) are admissible as evidence of the facts contained in them.

Reputation as to character (which might be given to help prove good or bad character) is admissible as evidence of good or bad character.

Reputation or family tradition (which might help to prove, for example, the existence of a marriage).

-Res Gestae

-Confessions.

-Common enterprise

-Expert evidence.

Question 4

Res Gestae

Answer 4

It is concerned with, amongst other matters, statements made by those “so emotionally overpowered by an event that the possibility of concoction or distortion can be disregarded.”

Question 5

s76(1) PACE

Answer 5

Confession is exception to hearsay rule

Question 6

s82(1) PACE

Answer 6

Confession is a statement WHOLLY OR PARTLY adverse to the person making it

Question 7

What is the general rule on hearsay evidence in criminal proceedings?

Answer 7

s114 CJA 2003, Hearsay is admitted when
- any statute allows it
- when s118 applies
- All parties agree to it being admitted
- The court is satisfied that it would be in the interests of justice to admit it

Question 8

R v Horncastle (2009)

Answer 8

Hearsay is a rule of exclusion subject to exceptions because it is less reliable and you cannot determine the weight to be given to the evidence as easily as if the witness was there.

Question 9

R v Riat (2012)

Answer 9

Hearsay is second-hand and second-best. Court should always consider whether the evidence can be tested.

Question 10

What is a statement under the CJA?

Answer 10

s115 CJA 2003 A statement is a representation of fact or opinion. Includes photos.

Question 11

R v Chandrasekera

Answer 11

Conduct can constitute hearsay. Case about sign language and woman whose throat was cut. The sign language conversation was admitted under an exception to the hearsay rule.

Question 12

Will previous statements of witnesses be considered hearsay?

Answer 12

Not if they are tendered as evidence of consistency rather than of the matter stated. s119 permits such a statement, properly proved to be tendered as evidence of the content stated.

Question 13

What is the rule on mechanically produced evidence and hearsay?

Answer 13

To be hearsay, the representation must be made by a person. So security cameras are not hearsay.

Question 14

What is meant by ‘the matter stated’?

Answer 14

s115 CJA The purpose of the statement being made was to cause another person to believe the matter or to cause another person to act on the basis of the stated matter.

Question 15

R v Kearley

Answer 15

If the recipient of the information already knows the information, then it is not hearsay as there is no fulfilment of the cause another person to believe requirement.

Question 16

R v Twist

Answer 16

To find if s115 (3) applies:

1. Ascertain the matter sought to be proved by the statement
2. Is that matter included in the statement. If not, no question of hearsay.
3. If it is relevant, was one of the purposes of the communication to make a person believe that matter. If yes: hearsay.

Question 17

s78 PACE Excluding hearsay prosecution evidence

Answer 17

s78 PACE Court may exclude evidence unfairly obtained or in all the circumstances, in the interest of fairness the court ought not to admit it.

Question 18

R v N(2006)

Answer 18

Complainant wrote in diary of sexual abuse. Not hearsay, nobody else intended to read it or believe it as for her sole use.

Question 19

s116 CJA. Exceptions to hearsay rule.

Answer 19

APPLIES ONLY TO FIRST HAND HEARSAY
Deals with evidence if person is dead or mental or physically unwell. Also includes evidence given as statements when, through fear, the person does not wish to give evidence.

Question 20

Why is the general rule for hearsay one of exclusion?

Answer 20

To ensure hearsay is always treated with appropriate caution.

• Hearsay is potentially unreliable
• The weight of the evidence is less easy to appraise that oral evidence