Evidential

Channel 4 plans to provide insight into the workings of the justice system with a four-part series titled "The Murder Retrial." The show will recreate a domestic violence case from 2012 using original transcripts, featuring two separate juries of real people who are unaware of each other. The trial will take place over ten days in an Essex courthouse, involving a man who admitted to killing his wife but claimed he lost control and was not guilty of murder. The series aims to explore whether different juries reach the same verdict when presented with identical evidence and assess the factors influencing their decisions. Channel 4 cited research from the Oxford Jury Project which found that juries disagreed in 23% of guilty verdicts and 38% of acquittals when 30 “shadow juries” watched real cases in Oxford crown court. A separate study by Chicago Law School, analysing more than 3,500 cases, found that judges disagreed with jury verdicts in 22% of cases. British judges raised “serious” doubts in 32% of acquittals. Channel 4’s head of factual entertainment, Alf Lawrie, said the show would ask “profound” questions about the justice system. “Lifting the lid on what most people know little about, this revealing show could be described as putting the jury system itself on trial,” he added. 
(Source: The Times)

An interesting case with some novel arguments being deployed. It also deals with the often vexed issue of a police officer and their role in relation to CCTV presentation to a jury. Worth a quick read. crimeline.co.uk/hussain-2022…