Angleterre
Verified LE & Sr Investigating Officer, England
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2017
- Messages
- 1,985
- Reaction score
- 15,173
Subjudice covers up to the point of sentencing ( and in some cases beyond ) as you correctly stipulated Silly Billy. I understand why some posters believed it no longer applied after a plea was given but the law specifically says after sentencing ( there can be issues even after guilty plea that although rare, necessitates it still to go ahead as a jury trial, hence this caselaw as I believe it from my SIO training).<rsbm>
I think we'll need a UK lawyer to weigh in on this, but in the meantime, here's my take on it. I am not a lawyer, and this is strictly my opinion at this point.
IMO, even with a guilty plea, that plea can possibly be changed at certain times within the court process.
A judge may wish to ascertain the circumstances that led to the accused entering such a plea (i.e. was there coercion, is it a false guilty plea, was there a plea agreement that a judge might find unsatisfactory, etc) . A judge may refuse a guilty plea based on legal reasons. I think sub judice will apply right up to the time of the plea being accepted by the court and possibly remain in effect up until the time of conviction or possibly even sentencing.
JMO, but no newspapers or MSM seem to be observing sub-judice rules any more. I am pretty sure that they no longer apply as the guilty plea has now been officially accepted by the court. So the thread rules may need to be updated.
Someone asked in the last thread what was thrown out of the window of WC's house when the police arrested him - The Times article says it was a memory card or SIM card. It doesn't say whether or not it was ever recovered.
Unfortunately you are wrong and you don’t just update rules on the WS thread that err on the side of caselaw regarding subjudice.
Subjudice continues beyond the plea to sentencing.