Ched Evans - Not Guilty

[Bazile]

I haven't been following this story , myself

He has been found not guilty


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-37659009

[Zacs-Master]

Sense at last in a case that should never have come to court.

[anotheoldgit]

Good, after facing two trials over this, perhaps he will now have the freedom to get on with the rest of his life.

[andy-hughes]

Justice has been served.

Evans is not guilty of rape, merely of behaving like an odious rutting goat, which is not a criminal offence, just a moral one.

[wolf63]

Regardless of what I think of him as a person he should never have been found guilty the first time around.

[Mamyalynne]

A resolution, finally.

[andy-hughes]

wolf63 - //Regardless of what I think of him as a person he should never have been found guilty the first time around. //

Obviously the jury - who know more about it than any of us - took a different view.

[murraymints]

hmmm... always 2 sides and we don't know what went on....no smoke...he needs to re-evaluate his morals and life style at the very least

[andy-hughes]

divebuddy - //Equally obviously the "law" thought that the first jury verdict was unsafe and ordered a retrial. Get over it. He is not guilty. //

If that is aimed at me - I have nothing to 'get over' - I don't adjust my view of the legal process simply because it exonerates a man with the morals of an alley cat.

The law serves everyone - I have no issue with that.

But to say that Evans should not have been found guilty in the first place remains inaccurate.

That jury convicted on the evidence they heard, this one acquitted on the evidence they heard, and there is a very great likelihood that further evidence was produced that caused a different outcome.

[andy-hughes]

muuraymints - //hmmm... always 2 sides and we don't know what went on....no smoke...he needs to re-evaluate his morals and life style at the very least //

I don't think anyone comes of out of this sorry situation with their dignity intact - certainly not the two dreadful men who indulged in casual sex with a complete stranger, but by the same token, the girl who drank so much that she put herself in a dangerous situation.

It would nice if footballers and single young women learned a lesson from this - but that is sadly unlikely to happen.

[Zacs-Master]

'there is a very great likelihood that further evidence was produced that caused a different outcome.'

'to say that Evans should not have been found guilty in the first place remains inaccurate.'

Eh? If that evidence had been produced at the first trial, maybe (quite possibly) Evans wouldn't have been found guilty, so how on earth can you make the second statement?

[-Talbot-]

Well he can now get on with the rest of his life. I can't say I have any sympathy for him though.

[andy-hughes]

Zacs-Master - //'there is a very great likelihood that further evidence was produced that caused a different outcome.'

'to say that Evans should not have been found guilty in the first place remains inaccurate.'

Eh? If that evidence had been produced at the first trial, maybe (quite possibly) Evans wouldn't have been found guilty, so how on earth can you make the second statement?

Quite simply - the evidence at the second trial was not produced at the first trial.

That is why Evans was found guilty the first time, and not guilty the second time.

Let me give you a simple illustration -

Mr Hughes, you have been found guilty of murdering the man who entered your home.

Mr Hughes, you have won the right to an appeal.

Mr Hughes, evidence not available at the first trial confirms that you did kill the intruder, but he was about to shoot you, and you believed your life was in danger, and acted in self defence. You are therefore not guilty of murder.

A more extreme scenario, but the valid point is evidence not heard in the first trial, but heard in the second makes for a different result.

[andy-hughes]

Talbot - //Well he can now get on with the rest of his life. I can't say I have any sympathy for him though. //

I'd agree with that statement.

[Zacs-Master]

Sorry Andy but your analogy with a completely different case is at best flawed and at worst utter cobblers.

There's no similarities whatsoever. He's been found innocent via evidence which should have been made available in the first trial resulting in him being acquitted.

[murraymints]

Andy I agree, all parties need to take a lesson from this..in my opinion NOBODY is innocent you all had a part to play in this..DON'T DO IT AGAIN !

[naomi24]

Very pleased to hear it.

[DTCwordfan]

eggs on faces all around - and, yes, probably new evidence helped weight the decision in round 2.

[andy-hughes]

DTC - //eggs on faces all around - and, yes, probably new evidence helped weight the decision in round 2. //

I don't agree that there are any eggs involved.

Just because Evans has been found not guilty from evidence in his re-trail does not negate the decision of the jury based on the evidence they hard, and on which they convicted him.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.