With crime rates falling, we Prosecutors
have had to turn to our back catalogue of offences by ageing celebrities but with
memories lapsing and witnesses dying the evidence in such cases can be questionable.
Should we just wait and hope
that crime picks up, or should we press on and take what we can get?
P.
Dear P.
There is no patron saint of
hopeless cases, but there are many examples of Prosecutors pulling some very
unlikely convictions out of the hat.
For instance, during the
Napoleonic wars a ship’s pet monkey was shipwrecked on a beach in the North of
England. The locals captured the monkey mistakenly believing it to be a French
spy as it was dressed in military uniform.
The monkey was interrogated,
tried, found guilty and hung.
In that case, the burden
would have been on the Prosecutor to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the
monkey had an intention to spy-no easy task.
Let us not forget the defence
lawyer’s task of taking clear instructions long before the advent of dedicated
Animal Rights Lawyers.
All this, on a windy beach, with
the constant chatter of the defendant in the background.
It is work like this which is
an inspiration to Prosecutors everywhere.
Ed note: Years ago, I was asked to represent a defendant before a Magistrates Court. I calculated his legal aid contribution, and when I told him that he would need to contribute $2.00 for my services, he decided to represent himself. He gets out next week.
Extract from - I'll have the law on you - The selected letter of John Fytit
(c) Paul Brennan 2014. All rights reserved.
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