Glyn Maddocks doesn't understand why we're all not a whole lot angrier about the Criminal Justice System. I was speaking to the defence lawyer and founder of the Centre for Criminal Appeals at the launch of Jon Robins' book about the 43 year legal fight to clear the name of Tony Stock, imprisoned for an armed robbery Glyn is concerned he didn’t commit. Glyn has spent more than 20 years advising Tony Stock in three appeals.
"Stock’s case is particularly galling because the Appeal
system has failed him even though someone else has confessed to the
armed robbery and confirmed that Tony wasn’t even there," Glyn
tells me. "The system just doesn’t cope with Appeals very well.
They are almost impossible to get through, even where the evidence is
compelling – like for example when someone else actually admits they did the crime and not your client! The system is just not set up to accept that mistakes happen. And of course the individuals in charge of the system are incredibly
powerful." Just look what happened in the Huhne
Pryce fiasco. Remember the hoo-ha about the
jury that was so inept that
the judge disbanded it and called in another, prompting debate about whether IQ tests should be brought in for jurors? (For
a reminder of the 10 unbelievably dim questions the jurors asked, click here.) “But
what was really interesting in this saga was how as soon as the jury system
itself was criticised, the establishment brought out its big guns to
impress on anyone that this was an “aberration”, the “exception that proved the
rule”, that juries are still the way to go. Even a former Lord Chief
Justice and an ex-DPP. But I tell you, I’ve sat with many a
client in front of juries and I’m not sure just how unusual the situation in
the Huhne Pryce case is. I have to say, If I had to put you in front of a
jury tomorrow, I’d worry for you, so random are the odds whether you get a
good jury or an awful one. In part it’s just human nature: as soon as the jury
sees a defendant brought into court by a policeman/woman, the assumption is
that they must have done something wrong to get to this point. And God help any
defendant who isn’t a complete saint: many juries have no qualms of
convicting an individual where the evidence on the crime in question is almost
non-existent, if they believe he’s "probably guilty" of some
other crime.
"Don’t get me wrong: juries can be discerning, rational,
logical, fair – and at its best the system of involving the common man or woman
in our justice is theoretically a good one. They trouble is though, that
often the system simply isn’t at its best. And once that original conviction is
secured, it’s almost impossible to reverse the decision.”
But what’s the alternative? Does Glyn have the answer? “No I don’t. But I do
think it’s something we should be investing in and researching as a
society. There are different models throughout Europe we could explore for a
start. But at the moment virtually no public funds are being directed into this
area. Public funds are under pressure from all sides. But the
financial costs of keeping someone in prison runs to thousands of pounds every
week. So it makes no sense to argue we don't have the
budget."
And that's before you even start counting the human cost of course...
To help support the work of the Centre for
Criminal Appeals, click here.
***
We enjoyed not one, but two very special Awards events this
Tuesday: not only were we hosting a party of clients and friends at Amnesty International's 23rd Media Awards, but the talents of our very own
Sophie Bowkett were being celebrated in a separate ceremony on the same
evening, where she was shortlisted for a "Young Communicator" Award.
(As she put it, this was her last chance considering she's just turned 30!). So
we kicked the evening off all together at Compagnie des Vins, and then went
separate ways for our two events, tweeting and texting updates to each other
throughout the evening.
The Amnesty Media
Awards is always an inspiring event and, as I always say,
a good reminder of the heroic element in journalism: many of the individuals
short-listed risk life and limb, quite literally, to bring us the truth about
what's really going on in the darkest and most dangerous corners of the world.
At the PRCA awards Sophie was robbed of a win,
but we all thought she was a heroine nonetheless just for making the shortlist.
Legal PR is such a peculiar niche that the rest of the PR world usually just
shrugs its shoulders and turns away whenever we talk excitedly about our work.
But Sophie's stand-out promotional achievements on one very high profile court
case, a legal first in fact in the Commercial Court, caught the PRCA's
attention and made them realise the value of the very special skill-set she is
able to wield. Well done Sophie!
We were kept on tenterhooks
right up to the last minute, to know whether Amal Clooney would be joining our party at
the Amnesty Awards along with Doughty
Street's Maurice MacSweeney who was one of our guests. We know she
has a heart for Amnesty and its work, but her busy schedule and the rather
over-intense media interest in everything she does, always meant it was
unlikely she would come. Then Amnesty emailed to say Andrew Greste brother of one of the al-Jazeera journalists
imprisoned in Egypt, was flying in from Cairo for the event and was
keen to meet her. Amal is representing some of the other journalists. So all of
a sudden the "will-she, won't-she" was back on again. She couldn't
make it in the end, (and our conversation amongst our guests was sparkling
enough anyway) but how nice to be with people who are interested in her because
of the amazing human rights work she does, rather than for her celebrity persona.
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