Coulson & Brooks hacking trial starts today
Discussion
Guardian streaming them coming out the Old Bailey live:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/24/and...
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/24/and...
kS!
Some people seem to be forgetting that the charges had to be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Commentary here and elsewhere on the prosecution case suggested that it failed to connect Brookes et al with wrongdoing in a sufficiently convincing way. What people here think doesn't matter. What the jurors who heard all the evidence think is what matters. It appears that they weren't sure of guilt, so they acquitted. That's the system working, not the system failing.
I compared this trial to the Bue Arrow gtrial some years ago which collapsed because the judge rightly decided it was too complex to be tried by jury. I thought from the start that some of the charges like those against Rebecca Brooks husband should not have been brought. This is a big blow fr the CPS because they should have won the case or faced the reality it was not winnable from the start. The large majority of defendants have walked free.
Couldon was a nasty piece of work and showed it to the jury. I thought the scapegoating might cause resentment in the jury but clearly not. Equally clearly they were all involved in this disgrace but too far removed from the events to achieve conviction. There are cases which the CPS should leave untested and this was one. Just look at the costs for prosecution and defence. Politicians are unconcerned because their personal gravy trains are safe. But the poor taxpayer is badly served with this level of result against the size of the costs.
Couldon was a nasty piece of work and showed it to the jury. I thought the scapegoating might cause resentment in the jury but clearly not. Equally clearly they were all involved in this disgrace but too far removed from the events to achieve conviction. There are cases which the CPS should leave untested and this was one. Just look at the costs for prosecution and defence. Politicians are unconcerned because their personal gravy trains are safe. But the poor taxpayer is badly served with this level of result against the size of the costs.
Breadvan72 said:
Some people seem to be forgetting that the charges had to be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Commentary here and elsewhere on the prosecution case suggested that it failed to connect Brookes et al with wrongdoing in a sufficiently convincing way. What people here think doesn't matter. What the jurors who heard all the evidence think is what matters. It appears that they weren't sure of guilt, so they acquitted. That's the system working, not the system failing.
It's true unfortunately, it appears the evidence didn't stack quite high enough. Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff