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Criminal Procedure - Chapter 17 - Coggle Diagram
Criminal Procedure - Chapter 17
Course of trial
S174 of the CPA - Possible discharge of accused
Case for defence - S151 accused addresses court - evidence in chief and cross and re-examination
Case for prosecution - evidence in chief; cross and re-examination
Closing arguments for both parties
Prosecutor: opening statement - S150 of the CPA (Discretion)
Discharge of accused at the close of state's case
S174 of the CPA - If at the close of the case for the prosecution at any trial, the court is of the opinion that there is no evidence that the accused committed the offence referred to in the charge or any offence of which he may be convicted on the charge, it may return a verdict of not guilty
Meaning of no evidence - Shuping test
Is there evidence on which a reasonable person might convict, if not
Is there a reasonable possibility that the defence evidence might supplement the State case? If the answer to either question is yes, there should be no discharge and the accused should be placed on his defence
Refusal to discharge cannot be appealed - it is an interlocutory order
Duty of the court to explain to unrepresented accused at the end of state's case his / her rights
S174 is classified as a legal question and not a factual question, the assessors thus not being able to contribute
Shuping test: modified by Lubaxa
Is there evidence on which a reasonable person might convict?
Yes
No discharge
No
Reasonable possibility that defence may supplement state's case?
Incrimination by co-accused / accomplice
No discharge
Self-incrimination
Discharge
Introduction
Adversarial character of criminal process - where the judge plays a passive role
Rules of evidence
S35(3) of the Constitution - the right to a fair procedure, and this includes review
The legal position S174
In deciding whether an accused person is entitled to be discharged at the close of the State's case, the court may take into account the credibility of the State witnesses, even if only to a limited extent
Where the evidence of the state witnesses implicating the accused is of such poor quality that it cannot safely be relied upon, and there is accordingly no credible evidence on record upon which a court, acting carefully, may convict, an application for discharge should be granted
An accused person is entitled to be discharged at the close of the case for the prosecution if there is no possibility of a conviction other than if he enters the witness box and incriminates himself
Defense case
If there is no discharge, then the case moves to the defence
At this stage, the court must remind the accused of their rights and that they needn't testify
The accused can refuse to testify, and no negative inferences should be drawn