what is the role of the solicitor in a police station
to protect and advance the legal rights of their client
what should active defence include
obtaining as much info from the police as possible, advising the client fully, advising on issues which arise during the police investigation and attending and advising during the interview
who is not deemed a vulnerable client?
generally those under the influence of drink or drugs should not be treated as vulnerable
what happens if at any time an officer suspects the person is vulnerable?
then they should be treated as vulnerable unless there is clear evidence to the contrary
what is the role of an appropriate adult
ensure that the detained person understand what is happening and why, support advise and assist the detained person, observe whether the police are acting properly/fairly and intervene if not , assist with communiation and ensure detained person understands their rights
when can a vulnerable person be interviewed without an AA
if it would not significantly harm the person’s physical/mental sate and delay would lead to: interference with or ahrm to evidence, interference with or physical harm to other persons or serious loss of or damage to property or the alerting of other persons suspected of having committed an offence but not yet arrested or hindering recovery of property obtained in consequence of commission of offence
what does the sol need to find out about the clients version of events
do they accept involvement and do they have a legal defence
what are the 3 options in police interview
answer qs, go no comment or provide a written statement and go no comment
what is an adverse inference
a common sense conclusion that is adverse to the interests of a party in proceedings
what is a written prepared statement and its purpose
a statement sets out the defence, and it is to avoid later adverse inferences.
is a mixed interview an option
no- you should advise your client to avoid this
why should a mixed interview be avoided
a transcript will be read out in court- a no comment interview is not read as evidence.
the officers will use tactics to push the suspect to answer questions
suspect is likely
the suspect likely to become confused as to what they’ve aready said
what should you consider when advising the client to answer the qs
amount of disclosure, admissibility and strength of evidence, client’s account/instructions, state of your client, significant statements, possible adverse inferences
what has case law held happens if police disclose little/nothing of the case against the suspect so that a legal advisor cannot usefully provide advice to their client
that this may be a good reason for sol to advise client to remain silent
what must you consider regarding the admissibility of evidence
have witnesses provided written statements, are witnesses compellable?, were any significant statements unlawfully obtained? will any s78 PACE apps have to be made at court?
what should you advise if there is little evidence to suggest hat the client is involved and so th ematter is unlikely to go to trial
remaining silent as- no risk of client providing incriminating info and little risk of an inference being drawn from silence- but must consider what evidence has yet to be obtained
can you still advise client to stay silent if they admit their guilt to you?
yes- especially if evidence is weak
what are the 2 possible consequences of watutng until trial to put forward a defence
adverse inferences and losing reliability
what is a significant statement
one capable of being used in evidence against the suspect
what are 3 inferences that can be drawn?
s34- if fact later relied on at trial and would have been reasonable to mention it
s36- a failure to account for a mark, object or substance.
s37- failure to account for presence at scene
is there a safeguard for adverse inferences?
yes- s38- no d may be convicted solely based on an adverse inference
what happens if a suspect is not cautioned
no inference can be drawn
what is differentabout s36 and s37 v s34
s36/37 are restrictevly worded- they require D to be given an ordinary langauge caution (special warning)
what happens in cases if the suspects id is not known to police, re eye witnesses
they may be taken to a particular neighourhood or place to see whether they can id the person, or can be shown photos
