Monday, 30 September 2013

Jury Nullification..?

It was suggested to Moloney that the man was at a ‘point of surrender’...
Heh! I'm not surprised. Don't mess with an Essex bird on the Tube, chum!

But seriously, it's very hard to see how, having seen the video, the jury could have decided the way they did. The offence is clear, and the prevailing opinion has always been - up to now, anyway - that the 'racial' part of that offence is caused if it's taken that way by the recipient.

Is this a sign that juries are no longer prepared to put up with this nonsense? I do hope so...
Under cross-examination she claimed to regret not attempting to leave the train or reporting the abuse.
Curious phrasing. I look forward to seeing it inserted into news reports of all those underclass mitigation efforts of which I seem to have an inexhaustible supply...

7 comments:

Rickie said...

The problem is that you have to see and hear all the evidence, i have been on a jury years ago which from the start looked an absolute guilty one against an Asian man, he was found not guilty , i don't bother repeating the brief version of the story to friends because without exception their eyes roll in disbelief and look at me as if i let the bastard get away with it.

i expect Julia if you sat through every minute of evidence there would be at least a lot more doubt in regards to her guilt.

I thought he appeared very laid back which suggests that he wasnt just attacked verbally out of the blue for nothing because you would react in a completely different way

ivan said...

I think the reason for the not guilty was because the guy started it in the first place.

The other interesting thing was that there was someone there ready to film the action starting at the the most damaging point for the woman - you can almost see that it was edited for effect.

The other thing is that it was the correct verdict given the circumstances.

James Higham said...

Is this a sign that juries are no longer prepared to put up with this nonsense? I do hope so...

One can dream.

John Pickworth said...

I'd have given her 10 years for the gratuitous use of the 'C' word. I bet her parents are proud?

blueknight said...

And she is wearing a poppy. Just saying..

JuliaM said...

"i expect Julia if you sat through every minute of evidence there would be at least a lot more doubt in regards to her guilt."

Except isn't the offence of racial language a strict liability offence - you either say those things or you don't?

There's no leeway for 'not meaning to cause offence'?

"The other interesting thing was that there was someone there ready to film the action..."

With the rise of smartphones, these days, there ALWAYS is...

"I'd have given her 10 years for the gratuitous use of the 'C' word. I bet her parents are proud?"

That's the legal profession for you... ;)

Rickie said...

The problem is Racism is massive subject in which there area lot of different opinions on what is Racism, "get back to your counrty" could be seen as racism and not racist too.

What we didn't see was the start of the ruck was what made her feel disrespected and angry, her comments i agree look racist but also are strongly held political viewpoints too.

My guess is and its a guess is there were personal statements from friends/colleauges read out in court and other evidence in her private life which showed the jury that she could not be seen as a racist and that her comments on the video should be seen in that light.

Immigration views are allowed not just by politicians.