Gathering evidence

After the accused person’s first appearance in court, the police will prepare a brief of evidence for the local or district court if the accused has pleaded not guilty. A brief of evidence is all the written statements, charges and exhibits that the prosecution relies on to prove the case against the accused, including any statement made by the accused.

The police may also collect physical evidence about the crime, such as items of clothing, fingerprints, blood samples, documents, weapons or other things, which might help prove the case against the accused. These are called exhibits.

Sometimes experts are used to examine the crime scene or other evidence or give an opinion about some part of the case, i.e., producing DNA samples, especially in forensic procedures. Their evidence may also form part of the brief.

All these investigations can take time but it is important that the police do their job properly. They have to act fairly in getting the evidence, or the magistrate or judge may refuse to allow it to be given in court.

A victim has the right to obtain information about the police investigation of the crime, the prosecution of the accused and the trial process, through the Police or Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP). This information should be made available, except where it could harm the investigation and progress of the case.

Preparing the case

The lawyers also use the time between court appearances to work on the case. A case may have to go back to court a number of times for mention before it is finally set down for hearing.

If the case is sent to a higher court for trial or sentence then all the evidence given at the local court is considered by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions’ (ODPP) to see whether the case should go to trial. The ODPP also decides what the formal charge (indictment) should be.

Sometimes for a number of reasons, the ODPP may decide to discontinue the case and the accused does not have to go to trial.

The accused may be charged with more than one crime. The police and the prosecution may decide not to proceed with all these charges. Some charges may be held back in the local court while the more serious charges are heard in a higher court.

Waiting

Because courts are very busy, every case has to wait its turn to be heard. It can be many months before the case is finally heard. This can be a very frustrating and anxious time for witnesses.

Even when the day for the hearing arrives, it may suddenly have to be cancelled if, for example, a witness or the accused is ill. Sometimes the court runs out of time to hear the case on that day. However, even though the case might not go ahead it is important to be prepared to give your evidence.