Pros and Cons of Judge and Jury Trial in Daniel Morcombe Case

Running head: CRIMINAL LAW
CRIMINAL LAW
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1CRIMINAL LAW
Executive Summary
This report analyses the pros and cons of a Judge and Jury or a Judge only trial decision
in a trial has been done in relation with a case study. In the report a further analysis has been
made in regard to the influence of social media over the trial matters by the judges. The case that
had been selected for the analysis of the report is the Daniel Morcombe killer case. This report
would be seen to be answering the following questions- whether there was a judge and jury trial
or judge only trial and the pros and cons of both, whether there was a media influence on the
decisions of this case and what were the types of the punishment that have been given to the
offender. These answers have been given in consideration with the Criminal Code Act 1899.

2CRIMINAL LAW
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Method.........................................................................................................................................3
Case..............................................................................................................................................4
Analysis.......................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Recommendation.............................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9
Appendices......................................................................................................................................9

3CRIMINAL LAW
Introduction
In this report a detailed analysis has been done about the pros and cons of a judge only
trial in relation to the Daniel Morcombe Killer case for making it easier for the department for
understanding the pros and cons of the trials that are conducted by the judges. A further analysis
has been done in regard to the influence of the social media over the judges in the trial cases. In
this report the complete knowledge would be provided in relation to the pros and cons of the
trials in the Australian Courts in respect with the various legislations that deal with the criminal
cases in Australia. In this report the following questions are being answered in relation to the
Daniel Morcombe murder case - whether there was a judge and jury trial or judge only trial and
the pros and cons of both, whether there was a media influence on the decisions of this case and
what were the types of the punishment that have been given to the offender. These answers have
been given in consideration with the Criminal Code Act 1899. In the case the judge only trial
was seen to be important over a judge and jury trial since the judges are seen to be having higher
knowledge in regard to the application of relevant laws especially in matters that concern with
serious offences.
Discussion
Method
There had been multiple charges made against Brett Peter Cowan. The first charge
against him was under section 302 of the Criminal Code Act 1899 for the murder of Daniel
Morcombe. Under this section murder has been described as to be committed where an act or