[The following are excerpts from a report in today's edition of Scotland on Sunday:]
Prosecutors are examining whether to reopen a series of “double
jeopardy” cases which could lead to some of Scotland’s most notorious
unsolved murders being brought back to court.
The 800-year-old law of double
jeopardy will be radically overhauled tomorrow, ending the rule which
prevents an accused being tried twice for the same crime. (...)
Officials declined to specify which cases could be among those coming
back to court, but they are likely to include the so-called “World’s End” murders of Christine Eadie and Helen Scott from 1977. Other cases
believed to be at the top of the list include the prosecution and
acquittal of Libyan al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah for the Lockerbie bombing (...)
The reform could also trigger fresh developments in the Lockerbie case,
which remains active, amid speculation that Fhimah, who was found
innocent of the atrocity, could be prosecuted once again. (...)
[T]he reforms, which come into force tomorrow, will ensure that a
second trial can take place where “compelling new evidence emerges to
substantially strengthen the case against the accused”. A second trial
may also be allowed to proceed where there is evidence that the first
trial was “tainted”. An example might be where a witness was found to
have been intimidated into supporting the accused.
Furthermore, if
after acquittal the accused admits having committed the offence, the
Crown Office will be permitted to have a second trial. (...)
A Crown Office spokeswoman said: “The Solicitor General for Scotland,
Lesley Thomson QC, has been asked by the Lord Advocate, Frank
Mulholland QC, to review and prioritise cases which may be prosecuted
anew under the Double Jeopardy (Scotland) Bill.”
She added: “It is
too early to say which cases would be considered, nor would we
speculate on how any particular cases will be dealt with under the
change to the law of double jeopardy in Scotland.”
[I would be astounded if prosecutors sought to re-indict Lamin Fhimah. The Crown Office is just as aware as the rest of us are that the astonishing thing about the Zeist trial was not the acquittal of Fhimah but the conviction of Abdelbaset Megrahi. Any "new evidence" that has emerged since 2001 points clearly towards the innocence of the accused Libyans rather than their guilt, as the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission amongst others has pointed out.]
Clearly, retrials for wrongful acquittals would make lots of sense.
ReplyDeleteRB: "I would be astounded if prosecutors sought to re-indict Lamin Fhimah."
I wouldn't. Not anymore.
I have deleted a comment because it did not relate to the Lockerbie case.
ReplyDelete