Edition 4587: LawNewsIndex is a UK based daily legal news archive on Law, Lawyers, Law Firms, Justice, Jurisprudence, Legislation, Litigation, Legal Ethics & Human Rights since 2011.
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Today's Highlighted Video Story: This appeal arises from the judicial review of decisions of the DPP to continue the prosecutions of the Respondents who were accused of three murders. They were committed to stand trial for those murders. The trial judge then quashed the indictments, and the accused were released.
Mr. Benjamin was the DPP's sole eyewitness who could testify as to the link, if any, between the accused and the murders. His testimony at the preliminary hearing in the Magistrates Court was that he had heard the gunshots, and seen the Respondents, each of whom he knew, with firearms in the vicinity of the shootings at the time of the shootings, thus linking them with the nearby murders.
On 1 March 2019, the matter was called before the trial judge and fixed for a trial to commence on 17 May 2019. On 23 April 2019, developments in relation to Mr. Benjamin just before trial gave rise to the application for judicial review and the instant appeal. On that date, Mr. Benjamin told two prosecutors at a pre-trial witness briefing that he had not in fact seen the Respondents at all but he had named them at the time to bring a level of peace in the community. He told the prosecutors however that he would repeat his earlier testimony at the upcoming criminal trial, even though he had now told them that it had been false.
On 17 May 2019, the prosecuting attorneys raised their serious concerns about continued prosecution of the accused in a hearing before the trial judge. On an application for disclosure prompted by that indication an order was made by the trial judge that prosecutors disclose their notes of the relevant conversation with Mr Benjamin. Disclosure of those notes was then made. The prosecuting team was then replaced. However, the DPP declined to discontinue the prosecution. The High Court quashed the indictments and ordered the release of the three accused. The Court of Appeal dismissed the DPP's appeal. The DPP now appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
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