Cost of court case
Discussion
Dr Jekyll said:
Suppose you are charged with an either way offence, death by careless for example, and are trying to work out whether to opt for a jury trial instead of magistrates.
How much more would it cost? Not just the court costs but solicitors, barristers etc for a simple case?
Depends on if you're pleading guilty or not. How much more would it cost? Not just the court costs but solicitors, barristers etc for a simple case?
Pleading 'Not Guilty' will make it a not very simple case.
alfie2244 said:
Can that be tried by a Magistrates Court? i.e. length of possible sentence greater than that a magistrate can give.
With my limited experience, I would say no. A death involved would surely be a Crown Court affair as there would surely be jail time if the charge was proven.OP, it depends on the legal person/persons/team you engage with at Crown Court; if this is the desired route.
In 1998 a good friend of mine had an "accident" when he hit a car stationary on a motorway off-ramp. Subsequently, the lowest reading on the EBM at the Police Station was 45 breath. His defence cost c.£250k with a mid-size solicitors firm. 2 counts of death by dangerous driving whilst over the prescribed limit blah blah...
6 years.
It's NOT cheap and I'm happy it's not!
7795 said:
With my limited experience, I would say no. A death involved would surely be a Crown Court affair as there would surely be jail time if the charge was proven.
OP, it depends on the legal person/persons/team you engage with at Crown Court; if this is the desired route.
In 1998 a good friend of mine had an "accident" when he hit a car stationary on a motorway off-ramp. Subsequently, the lowest reading on the EBM at the Police Station was 45 breath. His defence cost c.£250k with a mid-size solicitors firm. 2 counts of death by dangerous driving whilst over the prescribed limit blah blah...
6 years.
It's NOT cheap and I'm happy it's not!
Why are you happy it's not?OP, it depends on the legal person/persons/team you engage with at Crown Court; if this is the desired route.
In 1998 a good friend of mine had an "accident" when he hit a car stationary on a motorway off-ramp. Subsequently, the lowest reading on the EBM at the Police Station was 45 breath. His defence cost c.£250k with a mid-size solicitors firm. 2 counts of death by dangerous driving whilst over the prescribed limit blah blah...
6 years.
It's NOT cheap and I'm happy it's not!
7795 said:
alfie2244 said:
Can that be tried by a Magistrates Court? i.e. length of possible sentence greater than that a magistrate can give.
With my limited experience, I would say no. A death involved would surely be a Crown Court affair as there would surely be jail time if the charge was proven.OP, it depends on the legal person/persons/team you engage with at Crown Court; if this is the desired route.
In 1998 a good friend of mine had an "accident" when he hit a car stationary on a motorway off-ramp. Subsequently, the lowest reading on the EBM at the Police Station was 45 breath. His defence cost c.£250k with a mid-size solicitors firm. 2 counts of death by dangerous driving whilst over the prescribed limit blah blah...
6 years.
It's NOT cheap and I'm happy it's not!
The high costs of any significant interaction with our legal system is one of the biggest problems with it. It puts people in a position where only those with lots of money can realistically pay for a decent defence. If the outcome of a case can have any significant influence through how much you pay for representation, then the system is broken.
It also enables the weathly (companies and people) to s
t on the less wealthy, as they can use their relative wealth to leverage the legal system to batter poorer opponents into submission.7795 said:
With my limited experience, I would say no. A death involved would surely be a Crown Court affair as there would surely be jail time if the charge was proven.
OP, it depends on the legal person/persons/team you engage with at Crown Court; if this is the desired route.
In 1998 a good friend of mine had an "accident" when he hit a car stationary on a motorway off-ramp. Subsequently, the lowest reading on the EBM at the Police Station was 45 breath. His defence cost c.£250k with a mid-size solicitors firm. 2 counts of death by dangerous driving whilst over the prescribed limit blah blah...
6 years.
It's NOT cheap and I'm happy it's not!
£250k? Really?OP, it depends on the legal person/persons/team you engage with at Crown Court; if this is the desired route.
In 1998 a good friend of mine had an "accident" when he hit a car stationary on a motorway off-ramp. Subsequently, the lowest reading on the EBM at the Police Station was 45 breath. His defence cost c.£250k with a mid-size solicitors firm. 2 counts of death by dangerous driving whilst over the prescribed limit blah blah...
6 years.
It's NOT cheap and I'm happy it's not!
Dr Jekyll said:
7795 said:
...
It's NOT cheap and I'm happy it's not!
Why are you happy it's not?It's NOT cheap and I'm happy it's not!
The old joke that you either have to be really rich or really poor to get legal advice is not actually very funny...
OP, if your question is not hypothetical, you need to take proper legal advice without delay, which will include about the decision re the arena for the trial. Don’t make any decisions other than based on the advice of somebody who has all the facts, the relevant expertise and qualifications and a duty of care to you (with an insurance policy to back it up!)
It’s hypothetical, or rather general. I’ve read that the chance of an acquittal is higher with a jury and was wondering about the pros and cons. Whether, should I ever be in that situation, it’s worth stumping up the extra.
If a magistrates court costs say £3000 including defence solicitor and a crown court £10,000 then it might just be worth it to reduce the chance of a ban and criminal record, especially if lost licence means lost job. If the crown court is going to be £100,000 plus then it’s probably only worth it if there’s a serious risk of prison.
If a magistrates court costs say £3000 including defence solicitor and a crown court £10,000 then it might just be worth it to reduce the chance of a ban and criminal record, especially if lost licence means lost job. If the crown court is going to be £100,000 plus then it’s probably only worth it if there’s a serious risk of prison.
There are a lot of magistrates cases, a lot of crown court cases. A lot of those charged with either way offences must have been advised by solicitors what it would cost to defend in crown court as opposed to magistrates, examples can't be that hard to find.
Is it typically in the region of 50% more? 100%? Ten times as much (probably getting warmer)? A hundred times?
Is it typically in the region of 50% more? 100%? Ten times as much (probably getting warmer)? A hundred times?
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