Detailed Court Report: Criminal Proceedings, LAW1020 - Northampton

This court report details a visit to Wood Green Crown Court, focusing on a rape case. The report identifies key personnel present during the proceedings, including the associate judge, bench clerk, informant, prosecutor, registrar, and tipstaff, and outlines the functions of the jury in the crown court. It also provides a social background of the judge, Judge Levin, and discusses the importance of the jury representing the local community to neutralize bias and ensure accountability. A personal reflection on the court visit highlights the formal yet sometimes informal atmosphere, the judge's control, and the jury's crucial role in understanding the case from different perspectives. The report also touches on the prosecutor's responsibilities in rape cases and the challenges of deciding a sentence. Desklib is a platform where students can find similar reports and solved assignments to aid in their studies.

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COURT REPORT
By (Student’s Name)
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Court report
Introduction
The name of the court attended is Wood Green Crown Court. It is located along Woodall
House Lordship Ln, Wood Green, and London N22 5LF. The day and date when I attended court
is on Saturday 19/12/2018. The attended court session took duration of about 3 hours. The name
of the offender was Omar Sharif1. He was accused of rape. The victim that was raped is a young
female in her early teen ages. The courts therefore seek to identify if the action was actually rape.
With the prosecutor guiding the court towards identifying that the victim was sexually offended
without her consent to do the same. The accused also defended himself with claims that it was a
decision of mutual consent. The Legislation that includes the jury and the judge used Sexual
Offences Act 1956 and the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to make their decision. The prosecution
defined a maximum for the accused. The Penalty given to the accused was life imprisonment.
PART A
Apart from the judges and the jury there are other people who were present in the court.
To begin with is the associate judge; the associate judge who was present during the court
proceedings is mandated with the function of carrying out all the judicial functions before the
present court hearing2.
Secondly is the bench clerk, he is mandated to make calls during court proceedings. They
direct people on where to sit or stand. He is also the one who reads out the charges of the
1 Jacobson J, Hunter G. Inside Crown Court: (Personal experiences and questions of legitimacy.
(Policy Press; 2016). 223-227.
2 High A. Good, Bad and Wrongful Juvenile Sex: (Rethinking the Use of Statutory Rape Laws
Against the Protected Class. Ark. L. Rev 2016) 69-787

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accused and direct the court proceedings. Finally, he is the one that administers the oath to the
witnesses, the accused and the victim before they speak3.
Also present was the informant. The informant in the rape case is the police officer who
accused the victim of rape and recorded his arrest. The police officer also doubled as a detective
to investigate the accused before reporting the case to court.
Additionally, there is a prosecutor. The prosecutor presented the case against the victim
during the hearing. In the attended court proceedings the prosecutor was an officer from the
public prosecutions department. At the door entrance there is a registrar that assists people get
into the court at the counter.
Lastly, there was a tipstaff; he is in charge of announcing the beginning of court sessions.
He looks after the jury by escorting them out and into the court. He also helps the jury in dealing
with practical matters for example giving them the files related to the case.
Functions of the jury in the crown court
According to the observation, the jury plays a very important function in the crown court
and legal system in general. The accused can be tried by the jury. The jury consists of 12
members from the general public. They sat on the left of the judge inside the box. They do not
speak all of them but they have a representative who speaks in court for all of them for instance ,
in the case of the attended crown court Mr Rodwell was the chosen spokesperson if the group.
They listen to both the arguing parties and at the end make the important decision whether the
accused is guilty or not. They are also given evidence that help them decide whether the accused
3 Pina-Sánchez J, Lightowlers C, Roberts J. Exploring the punitive surge: (Crown Court
sentencing practices before and after the 2011 English riots. Criminology & Criminal Justice.
2017):319-39

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is guilty or not4. During the proceedings the jury may stop the case and ask for clarity in certain
aspects of the case they do not understand. This they do through the judge. For example, during
the hearing of the rape case, the members of the jury asked the victim questions about her
consent through the judge.
PART B
Social background of the case judge
Judge Levin presided over the case. She was a female judge who seemed to want to
know every detail of the case. She kept asking both lawyers of the accused and the victim
questions. She was from the black race and was tough talking. She controlled proceedings with
authority and had a sense of humour, that at times could sent the court into burst of laughter. She
seemed to be in her late 50s of age5. The grey hair had started showing on her hair. She showed
experience in getting information that she wanted from the witnesses and the lawyers. Her
decisions were all based on the facts of the case and evidence and rarely was she influenced by
the gender or the social background.
The jury as a representative of the local community
The jury should importantly come from the local community. It matters a lot if members
of the jury represent the local community. The jury that emanates and represent the local
community easily understand the ways of the local community. By the virtue that they come
from the local community, they can derive if the accused is guilty or not, not only based on the
4 Roberts JV, Sanchez JP. Paying for the past: (The role of previous convictions at sentencing in
the Crown Court. Palgrave Macmillan, London InExploring Sentencing Practice in England and
Wales 2015) 154-172
5 Chaffin M, Chenoweth S, Letourneau EJ. Same-sex and race-based disparities in statutory rape
arrests. (Journal of interpersonal violence. 2016):26-48

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laws of the country but also on the societal accepted norms. They therefore give judgment based
on the values of the local community that they represent6.
Representing the local community is also very important in neutralizing biasness among
the jury. Since the represent each of them local community, they are likely to be biased due to
individual prejudices. However having represented their local community each prejudice is
neutralised into a proper decision7.
Additionally, the justice system that uses a local community represented jury is
considered effective. Trial by a local community represented jury ensures that each of the
members is accountable for the decisions they make. They become accountable to each other and
also accountable to the judge. Compared to a government appointed judge or jury which is not
responsible to anyone for the trial decisions they make. Discussion among jury member of the
local community ensures that all the main lead of a case example of a rape case are thoroughly
vetted and each of them taken into serious consideration. The anticipation while picking local
represented jury is that each of them will serve; diligently, seriously and with no sense of
biasness for the community.
Part C
Analysis of the visit to court
The visit was filled with anticipation from my personal reflection. Most of the people in
the court room were dressed formerly, most of which were professional attires except of
members of the jury. However, the mood of the court rather seemed informal as the prosecution
6 Bierie DM, Budd KM. Romeo, juliet, and statutory rape. (Sexual Abuse 2018):296-321.
7 Young EV. Outsourcing the Jury: (Barlett v. DuPont and the Role of Alternative Adjudication
in Preserving Jury Fairness in Complex Scientific Litigation.Ohio St. LJ Sixth Cir. Rev.. 2016)
22-25

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and the barrister were presenting their submissions. The judge controlled the court proceedings
quite well, knowing when to ask for objections and when to overrule the same8.
Worth noting during the case is the involvement of the jury. At the beginning of the case
when they were being sworn in they looked like a bunch of people who did not have interest in
the case. However, at the end of the case one cannot fail to notice their contribution. They have
a perspective different from each other that will eventually lead to the unanimous decision they
shall have made. They understand the cases with a third eye, one that a mere person in the court
room may not see. It is therefore logic enough to learn that; the court, the judge and the jury’s
experience is an important aspect towards making trial decisions.
On the other hand, a prosecutor plays an important role in court9. A prosecutor must
understand all the cases and the offences that surround each. For the rape case that was cause of
trial in the attended session, there were important things that the prosecutor had to consider in
order to help the judge and the jury make a proper decision10.
For a rape case like the one in session, the victim should not have consented or invited
the sexual act. If the victim has evidence enough to prove in consent then the court and the
prosecutor treats the case as a sexual offence act11. However, the role of the accused is to defend
the case by proving that the action was on both the parties consent. The accused in the attended
court session failed to convince the judge and the jury that he did not rape the victim.
8 Marder NS. The myth of the nullifying jury. (Routledge. InThe Right to a Fair Trial 2017) 141-
223
9
Abdulah NA, Shah Haneef SS. The statutory rape law in Malaysia: (An analysis from shariah
perspective. International Journal of Business, Economics and Law. 2017). 122-126
10 Brooks T. The right to trial by jury. (InThe Right to a Fair Trial. Routledge.2017) 83-98
11 Klerman D. Was the jury ever self informing?. (InJudicial tribunals in England and Europe,
1200–1700.Manchester University Press 2018).456-467

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Deciding a sentence once a jury has proved that the accused is guilty can be very
challenging. However the judge is trained to give his verdicts in an authoritative manner. The
decision however is accompanied by legal statues which the judge also reads in court silence but
it remains quite difficult for the losing party12.
During the court proceeding, a dilemma spring from my mind and the general
perspective. During the trials and in most trials, the jury and the judge have their decision going
the same direction. The jury finds the person guilty and therefore they are persecuted by the
judge. However, in cases where the jury is not in line with judge then what really happens.
12 Edmond G, Mercer D. Scientific literacy and the jury: (reconsidering jurycompetence'. Public
Understanding of Science. 2016) 233-237

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Bibliography
Abdulah NA, Shah Haneef SS. The statutory rape law in Malaysia: (An analysis from shariah
perspective. International Journal of Business, Economics and Law. 2017). 122-126
Bierie DM, Budd KM. Romeo, juliet, and statutory rape. (Sexual Abuse 2018):296-321.
Brooks T. The right to trial by jury. (InThe Right to a Fair Trial. Routledge.2017) 83-98
Chaffin M, Chenoweth S, Letourneau EJ. Same-sex and race-based disparities in statutory rape
arrests. (Journal of interpersonal violence. 2016):26-48.
Edmond G, Mercer D. Scientific literacy and the jury: (reconsidering jurycompetence'. Public
Understanding of Science. 2016):233-237
High A. Good, Bad and Wrongful Juvenile Sex: (Rethinking the Use of Statutory Rape Laws
Against the Protected Class. Ark. L. Rev 2016):69-787.
Jacobson J, Hunter G. Inside Crown Court: (Personal experiences and questions of legitimacy.
Policy Press; 2016): 223-227.
Klerman D. Was the jury ever self informing?. (InJudicial tribunals in England and Europe,
1200–1700.(Manchester University Press 2018):456-467
Marder NS. The myth of the nullifying jury. (Routledge. InThe Right to a Fair Trial 2017):141-
223.
Pina-Sánchez J, Lightowlers C, Roberts J. Exploring the punitive surge: (Crown Court
sentencing practices before and after the 2011 English riots. Criminology & Criminal
Justice. 2017):319-39.
Roberts JV, Sanchez JP. Paying for the past: (The role of previous convictions at sentencing in
the Crown Court. Palgrave Macmillan, London InExploring Sentencing Practice in
England and Wales 2015) :154-172.

COURT REPORT 2
Young EV. Outsourcing the Jury: (Barlett v. DuPont and the Role of Alternative Adjudication in
Preserving Jury Fairness in Complex Scientific Litigation. Ohio St. LJ Sixth Cir. Rev..
2016) :22-25.