Perth Criminal Trials

Trials

Trials can be lengthy processes, involving the consideration of swathes of evidence from interpreting documents to examining witnesses, establishing technical facts using expert testimony, and debate over the establishment of the legal elements associated with the crime with which you have been charged. In order to minimise the stress of this process, enlist the team at Assurance Legal to help your trial run as smoothly as possible. We will work alongside experienced Barristers in order to help you achieve the best outcome.

Jurisdiction

• Magistrates Court
  • A single Magistrate hears simple offences
  • No jury involved
  • Police will prosecute offences in the Magistrates Court
  • If an offence is beyond a magistrate’s jurisdiction, the magistrate makes an order that it be tried on indictment in the District/Supreme court
• District Court has extensive jurisdiction over indictable offences
  • The DPP will prosecute matters in the District Court
• Supreme court has unlimited jurisdiction over indictable offences
  • The DPP will prosecute matters in the Supreme Court

Judge or Jury trial?

• A trial may occur in front of a jury or a judge alone. This will depend on the case’s complexity, whether the jurors are likely to be threatened or corrupted, or whether the media could prejudice the outcome
• For Commonwealth offences tried on indictment, trial by jury is mandated by s 80 Constitution

Juries

• The role of a jury is to decide the questions of fact in a case
• Juries comprise 12 persons
• Verdicts of a majority of 10 jurors can be accepted after at least 3 hours deliberation, although unanimous verdicts are required for the offences of murder and wilful murder
  • NOTE: for Commonwealth indictments, a unanimous verdict is required
• A jury that cannot agree on a verdict is known as a ‘hung jury’. In this case, the judge can either give the jury more time if they believe that there is the possibility of an agreement being reached, or discharge the jury and end the trial. If the latter, it is open to the prosecution to proceed to trial again.

Court Process

Intial

• The prosecution will serve you with a prosecution notice with enough time to consider it and seek legal advice about your options. This may come with initial disclosure materials.
• The sooner you seek legal advice, the better prepared for trial you will be, and will maximise your chances of getting a positive outcome.

Pleas

• If an accused pleads Guilty to an indictable offence there will be no trial – the matter will proceed immediately to a sentencing hearing.
  • An early guilty plea will ensure that you receive a discount on your sentence
  • The professional team at Assurance Legal can act for you in the sentencing hearing, and assist you to obtain the best possible sentencing outcome.
• If an accused pleads Not Guilty, the prosecutor will give disclosure to the defendant.
  • Assurance Legal can help you to review the disclosure materials, assess the strengths of your case, and identify the best options to take. This is best done as soon as possible, so make an appointment today!
  • Sometimes Police may be reluctant to provide disclosure to defendants. This is essential if you are seeking to defend your charges. Representation from Assurance Legal can assist you in obtaining full disclosure.

Pre-trial

• A pre-trial hearing may be held where the parties can address issues about the evidence and the trial generally, which will help in ensuring that the trial runs as efficiently as possible

Trial Process

• Firstly, the prosecution will make (or, rarely, decline to make) an opening address about their case
• Accused can elect to make an opening address now, or (if they are going to give or adduce evidence) at the end of the prosecution’s case
  • NOTE: When the accused decides to give evidence, the prosecution can cross-examine their witnesses. Sometimes it is best for the accused to not give evidence at trial, depending on the circumstances of the case. Contact Assurance Legal for advice about this and other aspects of ‘trial tactics’.
• Evidence is then adduced. First comes the prosecution’s witnesses, and then, if applicable, the defence witnesses
  • The order of witnesses is also a key consideration in ‘trial tactics’ – the prosecution and defence are equally trying to convey a story to the Magistrate, Judge, or Jury
    • If, at the end of the prosecution’s evidence, the defence do not think it is open to conclude that the evidence adduced by the prosecution at trial is sufficient to discharge the evidentiary burden upon them, the defence may submit that there is no case to answer
    • If this is successful, the accused will be acquitted without being called upon to present any evidence in defence
    • In WA, the judge (not jury) acquits the accused
  • Closing address
    • Firstly, the prosecution will deliver its closing address during which they will summarise their case, and seek to convince the court and/or jury that the evidence they have adduced has satisfied the standards of proof required for the elements of the offence
    • After the prosecution’s close, the defence counsel will summarise their case, or seek to uproot the prosecution case, pointing out inconsistencies, or ambits of the prosecution case that perhaps do not satisfy the required standards of proof.
  • If the case is a jury trial, the judge must then instruct the jury on the law applicable to its case and may make any observations about the evidence that the judge thinks is in the interests of justice: Section 112 Criminal Procedure Act 2004 (WA)
    • It must be made clear that decisions on matters of fact lie with the jury

Reasons

• The Magistrate, Judge or jury will then hand down their verdict
• If the trial is Magistrate or Judge alone, the Magistrate or Judge will present a statement of the reasons by which they came to their decision. This may be done immediately after the verdict, or at a later date.
• If the verdict is guilty, the process will proceed to a sentencing hearing. It pays to have professional legal representation at this stage of a trial, as this will determine what sanction you are given. Assurance Legal can aid you in getting the best possible sentencing outcome.
  • We will present to the Court the circumstances of your case, and seek to minimise the sentence imposed upon you. In many cases, imprisonment is a last resort.

Appeals:

If you are unsatisfied with the outcome of a case, we may be able to help you prepare an appeal case to be heard by a higher court. Find out more about time limits to appeal, and potential outcomes from your appeal case by contacting Assurance Legal today.

We work constructively with a number of experienced Barristers to help our clients achieve success in their appeals.