Criminal Law and Procedure Assignment Essay

1) At the political campaign of scissors lee side, the prosecution would like to produce to the court the caution recitals of scissors hold lee(prenominal) as evidence of his exculpation. Can you write out a list of your objections you will raise with the court to the production of the caution affirmation at the trial?Ans Upon the production of the caution debate of scissors hold lee(prenominal), I would like to raise some objections in term of its clutch procedure, reliability and voluntariness.Arresting Procedure PC34567 should assume cautioned scissor hold leeward at the football ground According to the Rules and Direction for the Questioning of Suspects and the Taking of Statements issued by the Secretary for Security in 1992, when PC34567 has evidence that scissors lee(prenominal) mightiness have placeted an offensive activity, he must caution Scissor leeward to begin with putting him into further questions. In the caution rehearsal, DPC13579 first quote d the conference between cut lee(prenominal) and PC34567 to induce Scissor lee(prenominal) to have a consensus in the fact described in that conversation, however that conversation record was non obtained under caution and in that locationfore it should non be mentioned in questioning scissors grip lee side. on that pointfore, the caution relation is non obtained in a proper procedure and should be inadmissible.Arresting Procedure DPC13579 did not tell scissors hold lee(prenominal) his rights fully under arrest afterward scissors hold lee(prenominal) was brought to the law of nature station, he was not told by the law of nature that he should have the chance to contact his family or stun a lawyer. In that circumstance, scissors hold lee(prenominal) may be put in a situation of help slight and unassisted. Besides, DPC13579 told scissors hold downwind that he could that go if he had given him a statement, consequently, there is a valid question that pair of scissors leeward may be induced to second to work out the caution statement. If he was told that he may get a lawyer to represent him, he should have stayed silence during the converse of DPC13579.Reliability The caution statement is recorded in English The question should be conducted in the bring forth tongue of scissor hold Lee, that seems not to be English provided Cantonese, upon the conversation between Lee and PC34567 to avoid whatsoever ambiguity and misunderstanding. Scissors Lee is single a organize 4 student at a secondary school and do not do well in academic. Therefore, there is a tenable doubt that Scissors Lee has the proficiency in English that he unsounded all the statements made by DPC13579 and stated concisely in his address about the whole story of the event.Voluntariness The length of the time of the question is as well long The duration of the interview is 2 hours. It may be a factor that sapping the free will of Scissors Lee in write the caut ioned statement. When the interview time is lengthened, Scissors Lee was zealous to go home, and there is a reasonable possibility that Scissors Lee just theater-language(a) the cautioned statement for letting DPC13579 to release him to go home, therefore the cautioned statement may not be made voluntarily and thus should be inadmissible.Voluntariness Scissors Lee was in hunger but was rejected to take chomp Throughout the interview, Scissors Lee was not given all refreshment. The interview was held at the time of having dinner (2000-2200), as he was quite athirst(p) during the interview, he asked DPC13579 for some snack, however DPC13579 ignored him. In much(prenominal) circumstances, it is reasonable to object that the voluntariness of Scissors Lee to sign the cautioned statement was greatly abnormal by hunger and ignorance of DPC13579, thus the cautioned statement should be inadmissible.Voluntariness Scissors Lee was deceived in signing the cautioned statement DPC13579 sh owed the cautioned statement to Scissors Lee, and simply asked him to sign on it without explaining the content. Scissors Lee thought the cautioned statement was a piece of music stating his right after his arrest and signed on it without full acknowledgement. There is a reasonable possibility that Scissors Lee was deceived into signing the cautioned statement and therefore, he was not voluntary in admitting smash Ah Ho, therefore the cautioned statement should be void and thus inadmissible.Voluntariness Scissors Lee was afraid of damage in admitting the discourtesy Scissors Lee was told by DPC13579 that he was the unaccompanied one arrested by the jurisprudence and he must admit bang Ah Ho otherwise the police would be very angry and educe to his school to see him both day. Scissors Lee was afraid that if he did not admit the offense, the police would really come to see him every day which will patently cause unexpected harassment to him. Therefore, the cautioned statemen t is clearly involuntary as it has been obtained by a business of detriment.Voluntariness Scissors Lee was promised in admitting the offence Scissors Lee was told by DPC13579 that hitting is a common invade and he would get absent with a fine. Since Scissors Lee thought that he already has a whitlow conviction of bound-over and so that one more common assault would not further taint his theatrical role. DPC13579 had made an offer of release from police custody and therefore, it is obvious that Scissors Lee signed the cautioned statement in the hope of release, thus that statement is inadmissible.Voluntariness Scissors Lee was unsuitable for confession upon his emotional status Throughout the interview, Scissors Lee was sc argond and anxious to go home. Under this mental condition, he was easily affected by external factors, such as the persuasion or threat by DPC13579, impatient to go home therefore, it appears a reasonable doubt that he admitted the offence in absolute volunta ry. As a result, the cautioned statement should not be admissible as it is not fair to demand Scissors Lee to make a comprehensive decision in the interview.Voluntariness Scissors Lee may be affected by alcohol On the day in question, before PC34567 brought him back to police station, Scissors Lee was forced to drink whisky. It was hard to determine that whether the decision of Scissors Lee was affected by the alcohol. Therefore, there is a reasonable doubt that Scissors Lee signed the cautioned statement in an unconscious status, thus the cautioned statement may not be made in voluntary and so inadmissible.2) Supposed Scissors Lee would plead guilty at his trial, layabout you advise him what mitigating factors you should address the court on his behalf?Ans  subsequently having a detailed analysis in Scissors Lees background knowledge and the circumstance of the offence, I may address the court some mitigating factors upon the facts of this end and of his background.Case sit uation Scissors Lee was s cathexisd of offending Mr. big Mr. magnanimous was an older boy who started to offer Scissors Lee drinks and snacks and tempered him to bar after the match. He taught Scissors Lee how to drink and everybody in the football ground treated Mr. ample like their leader. In this case, Scissors Lees offence was instigated by Mr. Big. Mr. Big told Scissors Lee to be at the football ground at 3.30 pm so that he would like Scissors Lee to teach Ah Ho a lesson. Mr. Big continued to threaten Scissors Lee that if he did not come, Mr. Big would treat him naughty and teach him a real painful lesson. Scissors Lee handted the offence unaccompanied in fear of Mr. Big but not intentional.Case situation Scissors Lee was not the prime mover In this case, Mr. Big was throughout the only prime mover of the offence. Scissors Lee was only in pull wires of Mr. Big because of fear of Mr. Big. He played a less great role than his accomplices in this offence and therefore he should be held less guilty. Without the threat by Mr. Big, there appears no evidence that Scissors Lee would commit the offence and cause any(prenominal) harm to Ah Ho, therefore, Scissors Lee was only a puppet of Mr. Big for his offence to Ah Ho.Case Fact Scissors Lee attempted to violate others hitting Ah Ho When Ah Egg, Zero, Ah sept were hitting Ah Ho, Scissors Lee went up and shouted to them to stop. His attempt to stop others hitting Ah Ho shows that, at first, he had no intention of hitting Ah Ho. Scissors Lee only pushed Ah Ho once after Mr. Big yelled at him, the purpose of his offence was only to make a false appearance to Mr. Big that he was hitting Ah Ho but not intended to cause bodily damage to Ah Ho. In such circumstances, his offence was relatively unsubstantial when compared to his accomplices.Case Fact Scissors Lee was affected by alcohol which was forced to drink by Mr. Big Scissors Lee never like drinking wine. But before the offence, Scissors Lee was forced b y Mr. Big to drink a lot of whisky. His offence may be affected by alcohol. Therefore, in such unconscious status, Scissors Lee was partly involuntary to commit the offence. There was no evidence that Scissors Lee will commit similar offence in the early.Case Fact The injury of Ah Ho was not too serious Ah Ho was sent to the hospital for medical exam treatment, from his medical publish, he was discharged with no complication from his wound and he would be expected to recover fully within two weeks. Although Scissors Lee and his accomplices did damage to Ah Ho, there was no evidence that the offence of Scissors Lee was causing any substantial damage and left any unrecoverable wound to Ah Ho. The offence committed by Scissors Lee was relatively light and it can be seen that the intention of Scissors Lee was not to cause serious harm to Ah Ho.Case Fact Scissors Lee did not attempt to approach Ah Ho after the offence Scissors Lee has not tried to harass Ah Ho after the event and he s tays a distance from Ah Ho, even if they are still in the same variance. Scissors had shown sincere remorse for his offence and regret to what he had done to Ah Ho. Base on these circumstances, Scissors Lee is less likely to recommit any offence to Ah Ho.Case Fact Scissors Lee pleaded guilty in sincere manner and cooperated with the police Scissors Lee was regret for his offence to Ah Ho, and he pleaded guilty in sincere manner. Throughout the arrest, Scissors Lee cooperated with the police and told the fact without any concealment. From the above evidence, we can see that Scissors Lee has the intention to abye and reform, he is less likely to commit any similar offence in the future. Therefore, the court should sentence him in high discretion. background Scissors Lee has good relationship with people surrounded From the background report of Scissors Lee, he came to Hong Kong 10 years ago to reunite with his make. However, his father since divorced his mother 8 years ago and left them. Scissors Lee is although come from a complicated family background his relationship with his mother is good. At school, he ever has good relationship with school friends, class teacher and the principal. Scissors Lee has good mortalality and there is no substantial danger of reoffending.Background Scissors Lee is a person of responsibility Scissors Lee is an active participator at school and he always help the school in important events like open-day, parents-day and whenever Justices of quietness come to visit them. It shows that Scissors Lee has a good character and a good work record at the school. Besides, Scissors Lee is also the sports captain of his school. He is responsible for organizing sport events and taking care of other schoolmates during sport events. All of his achievements at school show that, he is a person of responsibility and therefore he chose to bear the end of his offence.Background Scissors Lee has a clear direction of future career Scissors Lee planned to be a footballer, a dancer or an artist after he has finished Form 5. He has a true to life(predicate) prospect of career and therefore is cracking from others of the same age. It shows that he is a mature and thoughtful youngster and therefore the criminal conviction of this minor offence would be a score in his personality which may substantially affect his career and life history in future already.Background Scissors Lee was not really familiar with the prime mover Mr. Big Scissors Lee was not really familiar with the prime mover Mr. Big and his accomplices, Zero, Ah Kin and Egg. They are only met at the football ground and play football together. After this event, Scissors Lee is much likely to aloof from those people and he will no longer be influenced by these bad friends.Background Although he was in bind-over, that offence was not relevant to this case Although Scissors Lee has a criminal conviction of fighting in national place on 5 Jan 2009 and he is under b ound-over in $ pace for 12 months to be of good behavior and refrain from acts of violence. However, that offence was obviously provoked by the victims and it is not relevant to this case as in this case, Scissors Lee was in threat of Mr. Big. Therefore, the court should not trim any relationship from this record to the present case.Proposed Sentence Since Scissors Lees mother who earns only about $8,000 a month is the only pecuniary support in his family, and the maintenance from his divorced father is always received on an irregular basis, to impose a fine may not be suitable as it may cause financial problem to his family. Therefore, a community service order should be enforce as Scissors Lee (1) is one with a light criminal record, (2) has a stable home background and good relationship with his mother, (3) has a good record in school important events, (4) has a realistic prospect of being a footballer, a dancer or an artist, (5) has shown genuine remorse upon his confession an d (6) has no more than a slight risk of re-offending upon his background and facts in this case.