WJEC Criminology Unit 3 Crime scene to court room- AC 2.4 Controlled assessment notes
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Course
Unit 3- Crime scene to Court Room
Institution
WJEC
Unit 3 Controlled Assessment Notes- from crime scene to courtroom. Has all assessment criteria with cases and evaluation (very detailed and predicted an A, over 60+ hours of work). Created using textbooks, class notes and the 2021 specification.
Evidence
● Lies at heart of process criminal cases
● Primary/most significant influence on verdict - Jury decide on E presented
● Jury oath ‘I swear by almighty God that I will faithfully try the D+give a true verdict
according to the evidence’
● Cps decide if sufficient/strong E
● Physical/testimonial- Jury/ magistrate attach weight considered appropriate
● Reach verdict (guilty/not guilty)- Beyond reasonable doubt D guilty (standard of
proof)
● Any doubt- acquittal
Sally Clark (evidence caused miscarriage of justice):
○ Accused of killing two babies
○ Professor Roy Meadows- senior paediatrician (expert witness)
○ Incorrect stats in court- led to wrongful conviction
○ 1 in 73 million chance of 2 babies dying of sudden infant death syndrome
○ Actually 1 in 3000
○ 3 years in prison- misscarriage of Justice
○ Journalist- "one of great miscarriages justice in modern British legal history”
● Burden of proof on P (have to prove claims)
● D doesn’t prove- cast doubt on E+prove p's arguments insufficient for conviction
April Jones (casted doubt):
○ 5yr abducted+sexually motivated murder
○ Accused Mark Bridger- 6 children
○ Last seen playing with 7yr friend
○ EWT- seemed happy/willing to get into MB land rover
○ Lack of DNA in car- P cast doubt on EWT due to age
○ Police found sadistic child sexual abuse+corpses children images computer
○ looked at before abduction picture of girl with gaffer tape around mouth raped by
older man, had gaffer tape in car
○ Picture of local teenage girls+8 April
○ Violent convictions
○ MB claimed he’d ran her over- panicked drink driving+forgot what he did with body
○ DNA breakthrough- Found blood in Bridgers cottage+fragment bone in
fireplace/bathroom plughole
○ Jury found him guilty-life
● Evidence unreliable/ not credible- Jury less likely to believe it
● April Jones- EWT unreliable- P casted doubt due to age
William Roche (reliability of evidence):
○ Accused 5 sexual assault charges-40 yrs ago (no current evidence)
○ W provided inconsistent testimonies- criticised by barristers
○ Alleged victim recalled to give evidence- P casted doubt on testimony- couldnt
remeber details about cottage where rape allegedly happened
○ no allegations at time of alleged assaults
○ no contemporaneous evidence to show he’d met accusers
○ Found not guilty of all charges- evidence not reliable
Judgment
, ● Big impact on outcome of case- proves innocence/guilt
● Miscarriages of justice- Sally Clark
● Different types have more impact/trusted more- e.g. expert witnesses DNA+EW
trusted by jury- unique+reliable (lead to secure evidence)
● EWT- trusted by Jury to extent (P casted doubt age- April Jones)
Media in criminal trial
● Research Bakshay+Haney- highlighted impact of pre-trial publicity on serious cases
● Public (laypeople) opinion- media coverage (biased/untrue)
● English law, innocent until proven guilty- Jury preconceived idea from media (affect
jurors vote-suspect fair trial?)
● "trial by media" instead of trial by jury on E presented
Caroline Flack (how media targets suspect):
○ English television/radio presenter
○ Awaiting trial- accused assault Bf
○ CPS criticised by lawyers with decision to charge
○ Attacked by media- 99 total Sun articles
○ 387 stories published at same time (¼ negative tone- 35% negative/fake headline’s)
○ ‘She tried to kill me’-BF didn't support prosecution
○ Suicide- Carolines law (Criminal offence- media knowingly/relentless bully person up
to point of suicide)
Christopher Jefferies:
○ Arrested+interview- murder Joanna Yeates
○ Attacked+sterotypes by media- made suspect
○ ‘weird, lewd, strange, creepy, odd, disturbing, angry, eccentric, loner, unusual’- 1
article
○ Found innocent- newspapers forced public apology+paid substantial libel damages
● Contempt of court act 1991- sets strict liability rules-media- trial begins media must
restrict articles (can be fined)
● Minimise prejudice against D+ensures fair trial+protects J outside pressure,
influences+distractions
Taylor sisters:
○ Convicted of murder- misscarriage of justice
○ Cleared on appeal-sensational reporting (trial- Contempt of Court act)
○ Media convicted ‘unremitting, sensationalist, inaccurate+ misleading’ coverage
○ So bad- risk of prejudice
○ Media found guilty (directly affected conviction- acknowledged CoA)
● Social media- putting right to fair trial at risk
● Laws against media reporting- protect against social media?
Angela Wrightson:
○ 2 schoolgirls- convited murder (brutally attacker AW in own home 2014)
○ Earlier trial- abandoned by Crown Court judge
○ Social media comments/ prejudice comments (impact verdict- material/views not
presented in court)
○ ‘Unrealistic expect jurors not look at sm during trial’
● Government set up contempt of court webpage- explains risks using sm to
undermine administration of justice
Judgement
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