Episode 9 of Rape on Trial sees us back in Crown Court for the second day of Faruq's rape trial.
Plunging straight back into cross-examination, the defence sets out to problematise, not the complainant’s credibility, but her reliability—dealing with the evidential difficulties posed by her level of intoxication and its implications re memory fragmentation, confabulation and contamination.
We see how defence advocacy works in practice: how these issues are probed, how ‘false memories’ are argued, how evidence like CCTV footage and cell-site data does not speak for itself, and the inferences juries may be asked to draw in cases where a complainant can’t remember.
This episode examines the messy and emotive reality of rape trials and the sometimes uncomfortable tension between fairness to the accused and compassion for the complainant.
Key topics and elements raised in this episode: cross-examination of the complainant; putting the defence case and the rule in Browne v Dunn (1893) 6 R. 67, H.L.; evidence of other prosecution witnesses--testimony and agreed statements; contamination; the officer in the case and evidence of the defendant's police interview.
Rape on Trial is a fly-on-wall documentary-style podcast for anyone interested in the real-life workings of the criminal process, criminal law and proceedings. It's been described elsewhere as 'think of 24 Hours in Police Custody but in your ears'.
It is a must listen for those studying criminal law, criminal evidence and procedure, advocacy and trial strategy, criminal justice, and criminology as well as those interested in forensic linguistics and forensic psychology.
As a detailed and comprehensive account of real court proceedings in a criminal trial in an adversarial, common law legal system, this is also an excellent resource for international students learning Legal English, the Language of Law, and comparative law.
Legal English Learning Practice
Legal English Comprehension Practice
Legal English Vocabulary
Applied Legal English
Legal English in the courtroom
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