Go to the court counter and tell the staff that you are pleading not guilty.
For example, "I didn't push Joe, did I? If you want to move past the preliminary matters and the prosecution case and move straight to the Lawyers are very good at assuming that everyone knows what happens at trial. At trial in the Magistrates’ Court the verdict of ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’ is decided by the Magistrates or District Judge. This is called re-examination.Once you and the police prosecutor have closed your cases, you each sum up your case to the magistrate. You should write to the police prosecutor and ask for a copy of the brief of evidence at least 14 days before the next mention date.Get legal advice if you have trouble getting a copy of the brief.If your matter is being dealt with in the magistrates court you will have to prepare for, and go to a summary callover before the hearing. If you are unsure whether you are going to the Magistrates’ Court or the Crown Court for your trial have a look at What follows is all about adult courts (i.e. For example, if the prosecution witness has given evidence in chief that the defendant punched him in the face but the defendant denies this ever happened, the defence advocate will put the defendant’s version to the witness. From this point on the witness will be taken through his account of what happened. A witness is not allowed to rely on his statement to guide him through his evidence.
You are also not entitled to cross-examine in person a child witness in respect of certain offences. This is called cross-examination.When the police prosecutor has finished their cross-examination, you can clarify any matters with your witness by asking them further questions. Of course, many lawyers spend every day in the criminal courts so the whole process becomes second nature and they hardly stop to think that for many, many people a courtroom is a strange and unfamiliar place. How do I plead not guilty? According to the In the Magistrates’ Court the legal representatives (mainly barristers and solicitors) wear suits. To plead not guilty in the Magistrates’ Court means that in most circumstances the matter will eventually end up at a contested hearing. If this is the case, you may ask the magistrate at the committal callover to adjourn your matter for three weeks. This means you or your witness must give your evidence on the day of your hearing.Make two copies of any documents or exhibits you want to use. Before I finish here (I could go on) you do not hear witnesses take the oath and finish with the words, “so help me God.” The trial is the process which determines whether or not the defendant (the accused) is guilty of a criminal offence. There would probably be no dispute about this (if the dispute simply concerned When a witness is called to give evidence, he will be asked to give his account of what happened.
The exception to this rule is expert witnesses who can listen to the evidence before they are called upon to give their expert opinion. The Summons will usually give you the option of entering a plea by post to avoid having to attend court … There are no juries in the Magistrates’ Court.The middle magistrate on the bench is known as the chairman of the bench and is referred to in court as ‘sir’ or ‘madam’. The defendant may deny that this ever happened. Even though you might be upset or nervous about the situation, emotional outbursts will not help your case.Once you have finished giving evidence, the police prosecutor can cross-examine you.You can then have a chance to clarify after the police prosecutor has finished cross-examining you.You call each of your witnesses to come before the court to answer your questions. For There are two parts to a criminal trial: the prosecution case and the defence case. For example, the witness may have given a statement to the police that the defendant punched him in the face. For example, if a prosecution witness has given a different version of events previously to the version given in evidence to the court, their previous inconsistent statement can be put to them. It is the witness’s opportunity to tell the court what happened.A witness will start by entering the witness box and taking the oath or affirmation, i.e. You could decide to only cross-examine the police witnesses to try and raise a reasonable doubt in the magistrate's mind.If you decide not to give evidence, you can question the police and the police witnesses about the evidence they have provided. If you are pleading not guilty, your case will be set down for a pre-trial conference (PTC) What is the purpose of a Pre-trial Conference. This is called making a final submission.The aim is to highlight the parts of the evidence you believe support your case and why the magistrate should find you not guilty.The police prosecutor will highlight the parts of the evidence supporting their case and why the magistrate should find you guilty.Youth Legal Advice Hotline (under 18 or childrens court matters only): The court must be notified as soon as possible of a not guilty plea so a new court date can be set. completed his evidence in chief) the prosecution advocate will sit down and the defence advocate will stand up to cross-examine the witness.Witnesses (other than defendants) cannot sit in court before they are called to give their evidence. For example, if the allegation was that the defendant had punched the victim in the face and broken his nose, there would be a statement from a doctor at the hospital to confirm the defendant attended A&E and had a broken nose. If the magistrate agrees,the case ends. Step 1: Obtaining the evidence. For example you might say, "I call Jane Cherry".Sometimes you may not have any witnesses except yourself.You should ask your witnesses questions about what they saw, did or heard. When all the evidence has been adduced in support of the prosecution case the prosecution advocate will close the case by saying “that is the case for the prosecution” or “that is the case for the Crown.” This indicates that the prosecution have now presented all its evidence. ... the Magistrates Court conducts a preliminary examination to determine if there is enough evidence to put the defendant on trial in a higher court. Witnesses may be fearful for a number of reasons.