Having a Criminal Trial Crown or Magistrates

Magistrates or Crown Court for your Trial? 5 reasons to choose the Crown... The general rule is if you can be sentenced on a guilty plea in the magistrates. Their sentencing powers are limited to six months for each offence up to a year maximum - much less than a judge. Denying the offence, if you are given the choice, have your trial in the Crown Court. Reasons: 1. Legal aid is always available in the Crown Court but means tested in the magistrates. Even workers on average wage can find themselves without a lawyer in the magistrates simply because they can't afford one. Legal aid is restricted to those on less than about 12 K - much less than the average wage. Moreover, even if you fight your case and win it, you only recover legal fees at legal aid rates - a tiny fraction of normal legal fees *unlike the civil courts where the rates are near to those actually charged. After a long trial you can be found innocent and still be thousands of pounds in debt. And if you lose, the state can ask for all their legal costs at a FULL professional rates, many times that given to the defence. 2. Juries are more sceptical than magistrates. The old name for magistrates was police courts and they still retain some of their readiness to believe police evidence - even the most ridiculous. Jurors tend to play a healthy scepticism about police evidence. Some may have direct experience about how the police operate . I believe that , during their careers, most police will at some time exaggerate their evidence, or even lie in proceedings. A minority of police officers believe they have the right to do it without thinking but all police witnesses look to being backed up by magistrates against defendants. 3. Judges are more likely to get right decisions on the law. Magistrates do have guidance from a trained legal adviser but the Magistrates make the final decision even though they're non-lawyers. When they decide if they will allow the previous convictions of the defendant to be brought out, they do this just before hearing the trial! They then carry on as if they can disregard what they have heard... . Crown court judges are of course lawyers and they make legal decisions in the absence of the jury. The jury never the record of a defendant where it is prejudicial. 4. In difficult trials there may be a hung jury but as there are three magistrates hey always reach a verdict. Even with a 10 to 2 majority verdict available a jury can be hung and so there is a retrial. However often then the Crown decide not to continue. A hung jury even after a retrial invariably means the case finishes there. 5. Juries give much more acquittals than magistrates. In 2010/11, half of Crown Court trials ended in an acquittal compared with only just over a third of Magistrates Court trials...

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