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Retrial ordered as jury was misdirected on assessing defendant’s lies in sexual assault case
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Court of Appeal quashes the conviction of an individual previously found guilty of multiple counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, directing a retrial. The original trial in the High Court resulted in a 10-year imprisonment sentence for the rape charges and a concurrent one-year term for sexual assault. The appellate court's decision centered on the trial judge's misdirection to the jury regarding the assessment of the defendant's lies during police interviews. The Court of Appeal held that the jury might not have fully understood how to approach the question of the defendant's lies, rendering the trial unsatisfactory and the verdict unsafe.
Court of Appeal, retrial, sexual assault, rape, conviction quashed, jury misdirection, defendant's lies, Lucas warning, Criminal Law (Rape) Act 1981, Gardaí involvement, recent complaint evidence, indictment amendment, burden of proof, reasonable doubt, criminal standard of proof, trial judge error.
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