International Law

R. v. W. V. J. C.

In his reasons for sentence in a case involving an ambiguous jury verdict on a charge of sexual assault, Mr. Justice S. R. Romilly makes the following comment:

Permit me to say that I was a bit surprised to see that the accused elected trial by jury for this offence, especially because of my comments in R. v. Turnbull 2007 BCSC 1673 about the unlikelihood of being convicted for these offences in a judge alone trial.

This struck me as interesting, so I looked to see what it was Justice Romilly had said in Turnbull. And I can’t say I see where he said that the accused was less likely to be convicted in a judge alone trial. He did make the point that it has become extremely difficult to give reasons for judgment in “he said, she said” cases, but that’s not quite the same thing. In any event, I’m not sure it’s always a good idea to elect for a trial by judge alone in such cases. I think there are other factors to consider.

Full post as published by Criminal Review on April 26, 2008 (boomark / email).