Re-opening of murder cases to be allowed

NEW measures that will allow courts to re-open murder and serious sexual assault cases if fresh evidence comes to light have been announced by Justice Minister, Dermot Ahern.

The Criminal Procedure Bill 2009 will end the existing ban on retrials of people who were acquitted, even where important evidence emerges about their involvement in the offence.

It will also allow the Director of Public Prosecutions to order a retrial where the original prosecution was “tainted” due to the intimidation of jurors or witnesses or where it emerges that a witness committed perjury.

In addition, the DPP will be able to apply to the Court of Criminal Appeal to seek a retrial in cases where a trial judge has given a mistaken ruling on a point of law leading to the acquittal of an accused person.

The proposed legislation will provide for a number of exceptions to the standard convention of international law that an accused person cannot be tried twice for the same crime – the so-called principle of “double jeopardy”. It will also reform the rules on the use of victim impact statements in trials.

It will expand the range of persons who may make a victim impact statement in court to include the relatives of murder victims, while also allowing judges to impose bans on the broadcast or publication of all or parts of such statements.

The families of people incapacitated as a result of the crime, as well as children who are victims of crime, will be allowed to read out such statements on their behalf. Children and people suffering from a mental disability will be allowed give a statement via video link.

Judges will also be instructed that no inference is to be drawn that there was little or no impact on the victim in cases where no statements are read out in court. “This will relieve the pressure to make a statement where it would be difficult or traumatic to do so,” said Mr Ahern.

He promised that the powers of the DPP to re-open cases would be confined to offences carrying a mandatory or potential maximum life sentence. “The evidence must be reliable, substantial and implicate the person concerned with a high degree of probability in the commission of the offence concerned.”

Calls for reform of the legislation governing victim impact statements were made last year after a judge refused such a statement to be read out after the conviction of Dublin businessman, Brian Kearney, for the murder of his wife, Siobhán.

Controversy over the use of victim impact statements erupted during a sentence hearing in January 2006, when Cork woman, Majella Holohan, referred to information that had not emerged during the trial of Midleton student, Wayne O’Donoghue, for the unlawful killing of her son, Robert. The trial judge, Mr Justice Paul Carney, subsequently rebuked Ms Holohan, for attempting to frustrate the sentencing process with her remarks.

The owners of newspapers and broadcast media will face a maximum fine of €50,000 and/or a three year jail sentence in future if they breach any court prohibition on the report of victim impact statements.

Earlier this week, the minister also signed an order amending bail laws that will enable the DPP to appeal against decisions by the district court to grant defendants bail. The DPP will also be given powers to launch a High Court appeal against bail conditions issued by the lower courts.