To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail. I would submit this is the case in regards to Section 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. The courts have been granted a tool and since its introduction have been wantonly applying it case after case. I will endeavour to argue that s.78 has been developed into the tool the courts sought as oppose to the tool they have been granted and the wording of the statute ignored. The point of s.78 has been glossed over and it has instead been utilized as if it were a subsection of s.76. Whilst ‘unnecessary’ is perhaps the wrong term to use the purpose of s.78 has been defeated.
I would first draw attention to how section 78 of PACE should be used. A judge has the discretion to use s.78 if “the evidence would have such an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings that the court ought not to admit it.” The key issue here is that the exclusion has to relate to the fairness of the proceedings. Whilst is states that circumstance surrounding the manner in which the evidence was obtained are relevant, the actual reason for its exclusion remains a question of the fairness of proceedings. An example of this can be found in the case of O’Loughlin where the defendant would not be able to cross-examine the witness. This would be a strict application of s.78 where the fairness of the proceedings is adversely effected. Unfortunately cases like this are a rarity. Bernard Robertson directs us to a long list of authorities in his article where the application of s.78 is inappropriate and/or wrong . Further to this he advocates his argument that cause must proceed effect. The cause is the admission of the evidence and the effect is the unfair proceedings. Only after the cause (the ad...
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Application/Analysis: While using a previous case DePasquale v. State 757.1988, that court held in this case that the defendant was not entrapped when he robbed that undercover female decoy. The court held that the officers committed no misconduct, they also put five factors that show that Miller intended to steal from the decoy. The fact that Mill asked Officer Leavitt for money first and after Leavitt told him no; Miller took it upon himself to take the money away. This act was enough to show Miller intentionally committed larceny, the court held that Miller was not
Mr. Cockburn concluded that the evidence presented in this case was misinterpret and misapprehend, the leading investigation was “unscientific and slipshod” which lead to the sentence of Edward splatt. Many questions were raised, whether police officers should collect trace elements from the crime scene? The involvemet of police officers collecting samples rather than scientific experts which could lead to wrong and misleading evidence? The scientific procedure undertaking in this investigation. And these collected samples collected from officers and tested would lead to unvaluable piece of evidence.After Edward splatt conviction, anattorney- general by the name of Mr Griffin keeped a close eye on the case and examined the moran report and
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Well written procedures, rules, and regulation provide the cornerstone for effectively implementing policies within the criminal justice system. During the investigational process, evidence collected is subjected to policies such as Search and Seizure, yet, scrutinized by the Exclusionary Rule prior to the judicial proceeding. Concurrent with criminal justice theories, evidence collected must be constitutionally protected, obtained in a legal and authorized nature, and without violations of Due Process. Although crime and criminal activities occur, applicability of policies is to ensure accountability for deviant behaviors and to correct potentially escalation within social communities It is essential the government address such deviant behavior, however, equally important is the protection of the accused which also must become a priority when investigating criminal cases.
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On Bloodsworth’s appeal he argued several points. First he argued that there was not sufficient evidence to tie Bloodsworth to the crime. The courts ruled that the ruling stand on the grounds that the witness evidence was enough for reasonable doubt that the c...
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