Gavin R. Putland,  BE PhD

Monday, December 19, 2005 (Comment)

Majority verdicts threaten victims

The Big Lie about the NSW proposal for majority verdicts is that it would help victims of crime.

Police and prosecutors are aware that a high percentage of murder victims knew and loved their eventual killers. So when a murder is reported, the secondary victims of the crime — including the family of the deceased — automatically become suspects. In the absence of any leads to the contrary, they remain the only suspects.

Furthermore, when victims of theft or arson report the crime, they are automatically suspected of insurance fraud.

Because of circumstances like these, the people most likely to be wrongly convicted of crimes are victims of crime. Majority verdicts would allow even more victims to be jailed.

[Reposted June 27, 2012.]


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