someone been assaulted

[mooney1111]

hi there, if someone has been assaulted and the person who assaulted them has been charge does the victim have to attend court to give evidence. and what will happend is the victim does not attend court ???

[ummmm]

It depends weather they plead guilty or not guilty.

[mooney1111]

if the plead not guilty

[Barmaid]

If they plead not guilty there will be a trial and so the victim (and any other witnesses) will have to attend to give evidence. If they don't attend, it is quite likely that the Prosecution will have no choice but to offer no evidence and thus there will be no conviction. If the Prosecution are aware that the victim is unwilling to attend court, they could get a witness summons.

[mooney1111]

the victim is an alcholic and doesnt remeber what happend so can they still take it to trial ?

[ummmm]

The victim doesn't always have to attend court. The police usually ask at the time of taking a statement. If they are not willing then the prosecution only have the statement.

If the victim cannot remember what happened, were there any other witness'

[mooney1111]

yes i think there was other witness, but my lawyer said becuase he is the complainer that he must attend court, what do you think ?

[Yorkie580]

How did the police get any details in the first place if your friend can't remember anything?

How was there enough evidence to charge of no complaint was made or statement taken?

What will happen if your friend doesn't attend depends on the full circumstancdes. A court can compel someone to attend and if they don't they'll be in trouble themselves.

[JudgeJ]

Yes, a court can compel witnesses to attend, but they cannot compel them to remember what happened. For this reason witness summonses are rarely used as a reluctant witness is often worse than no witness at all.

For the victim�s statement to be accepted as evidence in court without him attending it has to be �agreed� by both sides. It can then be read to the court as a �Section 9� statement. However, since the principle aim of the defence advocate is to highlight discrepancies, weaknesses and inconsistencies in the prosecution evidence, they have the right to have the witness attend so that they can give �live� evidence and be cross-examined on the contents of their statement. If the defence makes such a request and it is denied, then the statement cannot be admitted as evidence.

It is most unlikely in a case such as you describe that the defence will agree to the statement of the victim being �read�. It is further unlikely that the prosecution will proceed if the victim is unwilling to attend court to give live evidence, or if that evidence is likely to be of little use.

[mooney1111]

thank you all for your advice been really helpfull