Pleading Not Guilty and Criminal Trials (1:VII): Difference between revisions
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Pleading Not Guilty and Criminal Trials (1:VII) (view source)
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*ii) any information tending to reveal the identity of a confidential police informant, unless disclosure is the only way to establish the innocence of the accused, and | *ii) any information tending to reveal the identity of a confidential police informant, unless disclosure is the only way to establish the innocence of the accused, and | ||
*iii) communication between spouses. | *iii) communication between spouses. | ||
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! style="font-style: italic;text-align: left;" | Practice Recommendation - Contacting Crown Witnesses | |||
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| If, while preparing for trial, a clinician must contact a Crown witness for whatever reason, they are advised to be extremely careful in their approach and speak to a supervising lawyer before contacting the witness. | |||
There is no property in a witness and clinicians may contact Crown witnesses, however the witness is not required to speak with the clinician and this must be made clear to the Crown witness. | |||
It should also be made clear to the Crown witness that the clinician is representing the client, and as such may be in conflict with the witness’ interests, and is in no position to provide the witness with legal advice. | |||
If a clinician chooses to interview a Crown witness, they should ''never do so alone''. Another LSLAP clinician should attend and should take notes of the conversation in case a dispute develops about what was said in the interview or the circumstances in which the interview took place. The witness may be required to give evidence as to what happened. If interviewing the Crown witness by telephone, a witness should be present via conference call or speakerphone. | |||
The clinician must be careful to avoid any appearance of impropriety or witness tampering, and ''must never, either explicitly or implicitly, advise a Crown witness to not attend court when summoned''. | |||
''Note: if there is a no contact order in place, the clinician can contact the witness only to discuss the trial, but the client cannot''. | |||
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