Time between offence and trial

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Geektastic

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#268151 2-Mar-2020 13:26

I’ve noticed that there are often very long periods between offence and trial.

Two or three years doesn’t seem uncommon.

That is an excessively long time IMV in all but the more unusual end where it takes that long to find the suspect etc but it doesn’t on the face of it seem restricted to instances like that.

Why does it take so long? There is an old legal saying that justice delayed is justice denied and some of the delays may be edging into that I’d say.

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#2430105 2-Mar-2020 13:34

IMHO the biggest ssue is not the time between offence and Trial,

its the time between being charged and brought to trial,

But both are the function of resources, the first for police, the second for courts...

sleemanj

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#2430118 2-Mar-2020 14:13

Because you need adequate time for both the prosecution and defence to assemble their case, examine evidence, get expert testimony, maybe get physical or psychological assessments, interview people.... and utimately prepare it for presentation in the appropriate way.

Big cases need lots of time to get that sorted out, no good for anybody if the process is rushed.

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#2430120 2-Mar-2020 14:14

Job Bloggs getting caught for something. 2-3 years.

Something more interesting and media circus gets hold of it ? Within 6 months.

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2430136 2-Mar-2020 15:04

Geektastic: I’ve noticed that there are often very long periods between offence and trial.

Continually releasing offenders on bail doesn't help. Two and a half years down the track...

Fail to appear for sentencing, apprehend, appear in court, schedule another sentencing date and repeat.

I'm still waiting for the $22 reparation I claimed. Clearly, they weren't very good criminals.

snnet

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#2430205 2-Mar-2020 16:22

I think in certain cases it's important to ensure all of the facts are looked thru - don't want to miss anything that could end up jeopardising a case just because there's a little misinformation

Geektastic

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#2430234 2-Mar-2020 17:00

sleemanj:
Because you need adequate time for both the prosecution and defence to assemble their case, examine evidence, get expert testimony, maybe get physical or psychological assessments, interview people.... and utimately prepare it for presentation in the appropriate way.

Big cases need lots of time to get that sorted out, no good for anybody if the process is rushed.

It’s not just big and complex cases. You see reports of motoring offences being dealt with 2+ years after the offence sometimes.

Geektastic

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#2430235 2-Mar-2020 17:02

SirHumphreyAppleby:
Geektastic: I’ve noticed that there are often very long periods between offence and trial.

Continually releasing offenders on bail doesn't help. Two and a half years down the track...

Fail to appear for sentencing, apprehend, appear in court, schedule another sentencing date and repeat.

I'm still waiting for the $22 reparation I claimed. Clearly, they weren't very good criminals.

We lost over $6k to that guy who was stealing money for astronomy equipment and ended up on Fair Go in 2018. Still not in court for over $130,000 worth.

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JaseNZ

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#2430241 2-Mar-2020 17:06

I think a lot of it is just a back log of cases waiting to be heard, I guess they have to be released on bail, it would suck if you were innocent and spent 2 years in jail for something you get found innocent of.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding : Ice cream man , Ice cream man

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2430243 2-Mar-2020 17:09

JaseNZ:

it would suck if you were innocent and spent 2 years in jail for something you get found innocent of.

You can't be found innocent.

On a related note, I highly recommend everyone watch this video... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLNvVeMD-KA

Geektastic:

We lost over $6k to that guy who was stealing money for astronomy equipment and ended up on Fair Go in 2018. Still not in court for over $130,000 worth.

Ouch.

I haven't watched Fair Go since they got rid of the three-piece piano theme and replaced it with whatever that current noise is.

snnet

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#2430250 2-Mar-2020 17:19

I can't stand it since they put that really whiney guy on. Not that I was a huge fan of Kevin Milne but that guy really grinds my gears

tdgeek

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#2430259 2-Mar-2020 17:38

Geektastic: I’ve noticed that there are often very long periods between offence and trial.

Two or three years doesn’t seem uncommon.

That is an excessively long time IMV in all but the more unusual end where it takes that long to find the suspect etc but it doesn’t on the face of it seem restricted to instances like that.

Why does it take so long? There is an old legal saying that justice delayed is justice denied and some of the delays may be edging into that I’d say.

What did you do? Ill get some hacksaw blades and start cake baking... :-)

JaseNZ

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#2430267 2-Mar-2020 17:48

SirHumphreyAppleby:

You can't be found innocent.

Sorry I should have said not guilty.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding : Ice cream man , Ice cream man

nitro

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#2430427 2-Mar-2020 20:09

Geektastic:

It’s not just big and complex cases. You see reports of motoring offences being dealt with 2+ years after the offence sometimes.

these ones, i believe just fall so low in priority (depending on the nature of the offence) they just get buried under the backlog.

1024kb

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#2430446 2-Mar-2020 20:43

“Justice too long delayed is justice denied” - Martin Luther King, Letter From Birmingham Jail, 1963.

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#2432258 4-Mar-2020 10:07

Watched an interesting vid from VICE last night on how overstretched the public defender system is in America, lawyers juggling 200+ cases at once, having 10 minute convo's with their clients IN COURT before their trial is heard.. imagine facing a potential 7 year prison sentence and only meeting your lawyer for 10 minutes.. guys spending 14 months in jail before even going to trial due to not being able to PAY their bail bond.. all looked an absolute shambles and unfair justice.

I had a family member go through the justice system 15 years ago, I was with them for moral support throughout, even back then it appeared the system was overstretch.. we fronted up for a private lawyer and it was still 18 months worth of of waits.. the mates they offended with were with public defenders and my family member had finished their periodic detention sentence before their mates had even gone to trail..

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