Saturday, 2 August 2008

Reasonable Doubt

Barry George was convicted by a majority verdict. Conviction by a majority verdict is by definition conviction where there is reasonable doubt. All provision for this monstrosity must be abolished.
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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous2 August 2008 at 10:34

    I was on a jury where we ended up convicting on an 11-1 majority - the independent voice being a woman who pretty much insisted on HD-quality footage of the crime shot from multiple angles and a signed statement reading "I'm glad I stabbed the bastard!" before she'd agree to help put him away. Would you really call this "reasonable doubt"?

    That said, a major plus was that her ceaseless objections forced us to spend four hours examining the evidence in the most minute detail, which meant that the 11 of us who backed a guilty verdict were rock-solid in our conviction when we finally delivered it.

    Talking of convictions, it was revealed after the verdict that he had a list as long as your arm, for near-identical offences. I totally agree that this should not have been revealed beforehand, but it didn't exactly shake our belief that we'd reached the right verdict!

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  2. David Lindsay4 August 2008 at 15:47

    "Would you really call this "reasonable doubt"?"

    If she, not disqualified to sit on a jury, would, then yes.

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