Group work. Discuss these cases in small groups and try to come to a decision about them. Then compare your results.

Remember, that in the UK magistrates cannot send people to prison for more than six months. If they feel that offenders ought to be sentenced to a longer term, magistrates can send them for trial.

Here are some expressions which you will need for your discussion:

1. to refer a person to the social services

2. to send a person home without any punishment

3. to sentence a person to a fine

4. to make a person pay for what he has stolen

5. to make a person pay for the damage

6. to send a person for trial

Use this model :

If ___ II FORM OF THE VERB, ___ WOULD + INFINITIVE…..

If I were a magistrate, I would refera person to the social services.

From the Court Notes of a Local Reporter

In court at 9 o'clock apart from me there are a few old ladies who have come to sit in the warm, and a class of 14-15-year-olds with their teacher.

9.05. Court starts. First case is Henry P., 47, divorced, charged with being drunk. He refused to leave a pub at closing time and caused a bit of damage when the police tried to arrest him. P. said he had had an argument with his boss and could not face going home to an empty flat.

9.20. Mrs. F., 72, shoplifting. Mrs. F. had stolen a frozen chicken, which she had hidden under her hat. The chicken was so cold that she felt unconscious, otherwise she would probably not have been caught. Mrs. F., in tears, says she had not eaten meat for three weeks. It turns out that, although she has the old age pension, she does not know about other forms of support.

9.40. Peter D., 19. D. stole, or rather 'borrowed' a motor-cycle, intending, he said, to give it back to the owner after trying it out. D.'s father is at sea and the mother is left to bring up four children, of whom Peter is the eldest, by herself.

10.10. Mrs. A., 45, a doctor's wife, president of a local ladies' club, was caught leaving a fashion shop wearing two dresses, only one of which belonged to her. Admitting that she had wanted to steal the dress, she could not explain why.

Exercise 17

Grammar focus 10. Conditionals III.

Here are some examples of crimes, and the penalties chosen by particular judges. Read them and try to answer these questions:

1. Was justice done?

2. If you had been the judge, would you have given a different sentence?

3. Would you have chosen a lighter sentence or a more severe one?

4. How would you have felt if you had been the victim of the crime?

5. How would you have felt if you had been the defendant?

6. If you had been the judge, what other facts and circumstances would you have wanted to know?

Use this model:

If ___ HAD + PARTICIPLE II…, ____ WOULD HAVE + PARTICIPLE II…

If I had been the judge, I would have given a different sentence.

I. MANSLAUGHTER (the act of killing someone, unlawfully, but not intentionally)

In 1981 Marianne Bachmeir, from Lubeck, West Germany, was in court watching the trial of Klaus Grabovski, who had murdered her 7-year-old daughter. Grabovski had a history of attacking children. During the trial Frau Bachmeir pulled a Berretta 22 pistol from her handbag and fired eight bullets, six of which hit Grabovski, killing him. The defence said she had bought the pistol with the intention of committing suicide, but when she saw Grabovski in court she drew the pistol and pulled the trigger. She was found not guilty of murder, but was given six years imprisonment for manslaughter. West German newspapers reflected the opinion of millions of Germans that she should have been freed, calling her 'the avenging mother'.

MURDER

In 1952 two youths in London decided to rob a dairy. They were Christopher Craig, aged 16, and William Bentley, 19. During the robbery they were distorted by Sydney Miles, a policeman. Craig took a gun and killed the policeman. At that time Britain still had the death penalty for certain types of murder, including during a robbery. As Craig was under 18, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Bentley who had never touched the gun, was over 18. He was hanged in 1953. The case was quoted by opponents of capital punishment, which was abolished in 1965.

ASSAULT

In 1976 a drunk walked into a supermarket. When the manager asked him to leave, the drunk assaulted him, knocking out a tooth. A policeman who arrived and tried to stop the fight had his jaw broken. The drunk was fined £ 10.

SHOPLIFTING

In June 1980 Lady Isabel Barnett, a well-known TV personality, was convicted of stealing a tin of tuna fish and a carton of cream, total value 87p, from a small shop. The case was given enormous publicity. She was fined £ 75 and had to pay £200 towards the cost of the case. A few days later she killed herself.

FRAUD

This is an example of a civil case rather than a criminal one. A man had taken out an insurance policy of £ 100,000 on his life. The policy was due to expire at 3 o'clock on a certain day. The man was in serious financial difficulties, and at 2.30 on the expiry day he consulted his solicitor. He then went out and called a taxi. He asked the driver to make a note of the time, 2.50. Then he shot himself. Suicide used not to cancel an insurance policy automatically. (It does nowadays.) The company refused to pay the man's wife, and the courts supported them.

GLOSSARY

1. accused (n.) - a person or group of people who are charge with or on trial for a crime.

e.g. The accused was ordered to stand trial on a number of charge.

2. bailiff (n.) - an official in a court of law who keeps order, looks after prisoners, etc.

e.g. The bailiff escorts the jury in and out of court.

3. case (n.) - a legal action, esp. one to be decided in court of law.

e.g. To summarize a case; to try a case.

4. charge with (v.) - formally accuse someone of (an offence).

e.g. He was charged with robbery.

5. consequence (n.) - follows logically from some causal action or condition.

e.g. Legal cosiquences.

6. courtroom (n.) - the place or room in which a court of law meets.

e.g. Acourtroom is the actual enclosed space in which a judge regularly holds court.

7. crime (n.) - an illegal action or activity for which a person can be punished by law.

e.g. To commit a crime.

8. defence (n.) - the case presented by or on behalf of the party accused of a crime or being sued in a civil lawsuit.

e.g. He has insisted on conducting his own defence.

9. deliberations (n.) - long and careful consideration or discussion.

e.g. After five minutes of deliberation, he was found guilty of murdering the president.

10. discharge (v.) - a) release from the custody or restraint of the law.

e.g. She was conditionally discharged for two years at Oxford Crown Court.

b) relieve (a juror or jury) from serving in a case.

e.g. To discharge a jury from the case.

11. discretion (n.) - being able to decide correctly what should be done.

e.g. The judge refused the application on the ground that he had a judicial discretion to examine evidence.

12.examination-in-chief (n.) - the questioning of a witness by the party which has called that witness to give evidence, in support of the case being made.

e.g. Leading questions are forbidden in examination-in-chief.

13. forbid (v.) - to tell someone not to do something.

e.g. The contract forbids sale of the goods to the USA.

14. foreman (n.) - (in a law court) a person who presides over a jury and speaks on its behalf.

e.g. The foreman is often chosen before the trial begins or upon the beginning of deliberations.

15. indictment (n.) - a formal charge or accusation of a serious crime.

e.g. An indictment for conspiracy.

16. jury (n.) - a body of people (typically twelve in number) sworn to give a verdict in a legal case on the basis of evidence submitted to them in court.

e.g. The jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts.

17. oath (n.) - a formal promise to tell the truth.

e.g. To swear an oath.

18. objection (n.) - the action of challenging or disagreeing with something.

e.g. To overrule the objection; to sustain the objection.

19. offence (n.) - a breach of a law or rule; an illegal act.

e.g. Thirteen people have been charged with treason – an offence which can carry the death penalty.

20.overrule(v.) - to decide officially that the decision is incorrect or not valid.

e.g. Objection overruled!

21. penalty (n.) - a punishment imposed for breaking a law, rule, or contract.

e.g. The charge carries a maximum penalty of ten years' imprisonment.

22. perjury (n.) - the offence or wilfully telling an untruth or making a misrepresentation under oath.

e.g. This witness has committed perjury.

23. prosecute (v.) - a) to institute legal proceedings against (a person or organization). b) to conduct the case against the party being accused or sued in a lawsuit.

e.g. The attorney who will prosecute the case says he cannot reveal how much money is involved.

24. re-examine (v.) - to examine (one's own witness) again, after cross-examination by the opposing counsel.

e.g. Lawyer for petitioners, Philip Addison, will today re-examine their star witness.

25. release (v.) - to allow or enable to escape from confinement; to set free.

e.g. To release o parole.

26. sentence (n.) - the punishment that a person receives after they have been found guilty of a crime.

e.g. To serve sentence; to impose a sentence; to pronounce a sentence; to suspend sentence.

27. summary offence (n.+adj.) - minor crime which can be tried only in a magistrates' court.

e.g. Summary offence is tried without a jury.

28. supervise (v.) - to watch somebody carefully.

e.g. Do probation officers supervise other offenders?

29. supervision order (n.) - court order for a young offender to be placed under the supervision of the probation officer.

e.g.The former MP has been given a two-year supervision order.

30. sustain(v.) – to confirm or to support.

e.g. The allegations of discrimination were sustained.

31. testify (v.) - give evidence as a witness in a law court.

e.g. He testified against his own commander.

32. testimony (n.) -a formal written or spoken statement, especially one given in a court of law.

e.g. His testimony was an important element of the prosecution case.

33. verdict (n.) - a decision on a disputed issue in a civil or criminal case.

e.g. Deliberations on a verdict; to reach a verdict.

34. witness (n.) - a person giving sworn testimony to a court of law or the police.

e.g. Witness box.

35. Your Honour(n.) — a form of address used to certain judges.

e.g. In some courts the judges are referred to as "Your Honour".

UNIT 6 B