Comments on: So, about this one rule for them another for us business … http://blog.geeklawyer.org/2006/02/09/so-about-this-one-rule-for-them-another-for-us-business/ A barrister gossips & rants on intellectual property law, the legal system and civil liberties. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:53:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Martin http://blog.geeklawyer.org/2006/02/09/so-about-this-one-rule-for-them-another-for-us-business/#comment-1193 Martin Sat, 11 Feb 2006 22:53:48 +0000 http://blog.geeklawyer.org/?p=380#comment-1193 Really? You see, i remember reading the huge diagram the Sun published on the day they shot that Brazillian guy and thinking "thank god he deserved it, because that was a bad shooting". It is easy to say so. But it is also occasionally correct to say so. Really? You see, i remember reading the huge diagram the Sun published on the day they shot that Brazillian guy and thinking “thank god he deserved it, because that was a bad shooting”. It is easy to say so. But it is also occasionally correct to say so.

]]> By: Ruthie http://blog.geeklawyer.org/2006/02/09/so-about-this-one-rule-for-them-another-for-us-business/#comment-1192 Ruthie Fri, 10 Feb 2006 16:58:43 +0000 http://blog.geeklawyer.org/?p=380#comment-1192 Its easy to blame the Police. But if they hadn't gone all out to convict the killer they would also have been criticised. The danger with serious cases is that the police can decide too early on who the killer must be, then go all out to to ensure the evidence they collect nails that person. Consider also that most murders are committed by a person known to the victim. The liklihood of being murdered by a stranger in a dark alleyway is extremely low. You are far more likely to be murdered by your partner.. Sion Jenkins has been aquitted because two successive juries failed to reach a verdict. I know little about the facts of the case, but I understand that the case turns on complex forensic evidence. There is an argument that it is too much to expect a lay jury to decide between experts. However if two eminently qualified experts cannot agree then the jury is surely bound to resolve any doubt in favour of the defendant. As regards mistaken shooting by the police: its easy to sit and pass judgement from the safety of your desk. Far less easy when life and death decisions have to be made in a split second in hostile circumstances when your own life may be in danger. Its easy to blame the Police. But if they hadn’t gone all out to convict the killer they would also have been criticised. The danger with serious cases is that the police can decide too early on who the killer must be, then go all out to to ensure the evidence they collect nails that person.

Consider also that most murders are committed by a person known to the victim. The liklihood of being murdered by a stranger in a dark alleyway is extremely low. You are far more likely to be murdered by your partner..

Sion Jenkins has been aquitted because two successive juries failed to reach a verdict. I know little about the facts of the case, but I understand that the case turns on complex forensic evidence. There is an argument that it is too much to expect a lay jury to decide between experts. However if two eminently qualified experts cannot agree then the jury is surely bound to resolve any doubt in favour of the defendant.

As regards mistaken shooting by the police: its easy to sit and pass judgement from the safety of your desk. Far less easy when life and death decisions have to be made in a split second in hostile circumstances when your own life may be in danger.

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