When you plead not guilty to a summary charge, the matter will be listed for a trial in the Magistrates Court.
Your trial will be heard by a Magistrate, rather than a jury at your magistrates court trial.
The Magistrate will have to make decisions on legal argument, on credibility of witnesses, and ultimately, whether or not the prosecution have proved the charge against you “beyond reasonable doubt”.
The prosecutor will be a police officer. Most prosecutors do not have a legal degree but will have courtroom experience.
What’s the criminal trial process?
Burden of proof
In all criminal trials, the burden of proof rests on the prosecution to prove the elements of the offence beyond reasonable doubt.
However, sometimes the burden of proof can be reversed. An example of this is for the charge of possession of a prohibited drug “with intent to sell or supply”. There is a presumed intent to sell or supply drugs based on the type of drug and amount of the drug. In this case, you would need to prove, on the “balance of probabilities” that you did not intent to sell or supply the drugs.
Opening address
The trial will commence with both parties having the opportunity to make an opening statement, with the prosecution going first.
The purpose of an opening statement is to briefly outline each party’s case, letting the Magistrate know what evidence you intend to provide, and what issues the Magistrate will need to make a decision on.
The defence can choose to make an opening statement now, or at the start of the defence case.
An opening address is not a requirement of a Magistrates Court trial.
Prosecution case
The prosecutor will call their first witness. If there is a “complainant” in a matter, then this will be the first witness. The complainant is often followed by any other civilian witnesses, and then any police and expert witnesses.
The witness will be sworn in, and will be required to give an oath or affirmation promising to tell the truth.
In some cases, the complainant and other witnesses may give evidence by CCTV either from another room in the court building or from a different location.
Tendering exhibits in a Magistrates Court Trial
Both parties can tender exhibits, such as documents or photographs. In order to tender such evidence, the person who prepared the document or took the photograph must give evidence.
Evidence in chief
The prosecutor will ask each prosecution witness questions, known as the “evidence in chief”. The answers given by a witness in court under oath or affirmation becomes their evidence.
If you participated in a video record of interview, it may be played in court, and will form part of the prosecution case.
Cross examination
The defence will then have the opportunity to “cross-examine” each prosecution witness. The purpose of cross examination is to challenge the evidence of the witness.
If you have a different version of events of what happened, you will have to put forth your version of events to the witness (known as the “Browne v Dunn” rule) to give them the opportunity to respond to it.
Re-examination
The prosecutor will then have the opportunity to re-examine the witness. They can only re-examine to the extent of clarifying their evidence, and cannot raise new matters.
Defence case
After the prosecution close their case, the defence has the opportunity to call witnesses. In some cases, no witnesses are called. In some cases, you will give evidence, while in other cases, you won’t. If defence witnesses are called to give evidence, they can be cross-examined by the prosecutor and then re-examined by defence afterwards.
You are not required to give evidence at your trial, though depending on your defence, you may need to in order to raise your defence.
For example, if you are relying on the defence of “self-defence”, you will need to give evidence as to why you did what you did.
Closing address for the Magistrates Court Trial
Once all of the evidence has been given, both parties will have the opportunity to give a closing address, with the prosecution going first.
Each party will summarise their case, and point out the strengths and weaknesses of the case. No new evidence can be raised at this point.
The decision
The Magistrate will either:
- Give a decision immediately;
- Take a short break before coming back with a decision; or
- Adjourn the matter to a later date to give a decision.
The possible outcomes will be:
- Guilty of the offence as charged;
- Guilty of a lesser offence (if applicable); o
- Not guilty.
If you are found not guilty, you will be acquitted, and this will be the end of the matter. If you were on bail, your bail obligations will come to an end.
If you were legally represented, you may make an application for costs, to cover any legal fees you have paid.
If you are found guilty, you will be convicted and sentenced. The conviction will be recorded on your criminal record, and will appear on a police check unless you are granted a spent conviction.
Looking for a criminal defence lawyer in Perth to represent you?
Chambers Legal regularly represents accused people in the Magistrates Court for trial. For advice or legal representation, get in touch with our friendly team today.