Description
Criminal note of appeal against conviction:- On 17 January 2013, following a trial at the High Court at Glasgow, the appellant was convicted of repeated indecent assaults on his two stepsons between 1975 and 1984. On 14 March 2013 the appellant was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. On 30 July 2013 the appellant lodged a note of appeal on the basis of new evidence which comprised of affidavits from 3 relatives. Here the court considered whether the appellant, in terms of section 106(3)(a) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, had demonstrated that there was a reasonable explanation as to why the evidence was not heard in the original trial proceedings. Further, in terms of section 106(3) of the 1995 Act, the appellant was required to demonstrate that the evidence was of such significance that the fact that it was not heard at the original proceedings resulted in a miscarriage of justice. In other words the court had to be satisfied that the evidence was capable of being regarded by a reasonable jury as credible and reliable and of such a kind and quality that it was likely to have had a material bearing on the jury's consideration of a critical issue at the trial. The court here assessed the new evidence in the context of the other evidence adduced at the trial, following which the trial judge described the testimony of both complainers as "credible, reliable and highly persuasive", and refused the appeal. The court considered that the new evidence was not of such significance that the absence of it from the trial resulted in a miscarriage of justice.
0141 553 4890
