DPP v Greenwood

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: Finnegan J.
• Judgment Date: 16 January 2012
• Neutral Citation: [2012] IECCA 17
• Court: Court of Criminal Appeal
• Docket Number: CCA/290/11
• Date: 16 January 2012

DPP v Greenwood

THE PEOPLE (AT THE SUIT OF THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS)

.v.

SEAN GREENWOOD

APPLICANT

[2012] IECCA 17

CCA/290/11

COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL

CRIMINAL LAW

Bail

Application for bail - Conviction for assault and violent disorder - Applicable principles - Appearance before court without presumption of innocence - Onus on applicant to establish definite and discrete ground of appeal with strong chance of success - Risk of expiry of sentence prior to hearing - Grounds of appeal - Comments made by trial judge - Whether specific legal error as opposed to incorrect emphasis on parts of evidence - Alleged failure to give proper identification warning - Suggestion of objective bias - Necessity for transcript - Director of Public Prosecutions v Corbally [2001] IR 180 and Director of Public Prosecutions v Sweetman [1997] 3 IR 448 considered - Directions in relation to transcript and early hearing of appeal made (290/2011 - CCA - 16/1/2012) [2012] IECCA 17

People (DPP) v Greenwood

NON-FATAL OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ACT 1997 S3

CRIMINAL JUSTICE (PUBLIC ORDER) ACT 1994 S15

DPP v CORBALLY 2001 1 IR 180 2001 2 ILRM 102 2000/7/2445

DPP v SWEETMAN 1997 3 IR 448 1998/16/6150

1 Judgment of the Court (ex tempore) delivered on the 16th day of January 2012 by Finnegan J.

2 This is an application for bail pending the hearing of an appeal against conviction. The applicant was convicted of an assault contrary to section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997 on one John Gough and also of an offence of violent disorder contrary to section 15 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994. He was sentenced to three years imprisonment with eighteen months suspended. He was convicted following a trial. He has been in custody since 5 ^th December 2011. It is important to go back to the jurisprudence that this court applies in relation to bail where an appeal is pending before the court.

3 The principles are set out in the judgment of Geoghegan J. in Director of Public Prosecutions v Corbally [2001] I.R, 181. In that case there was a reference back to the judgment in the Director of Public Prosecutions v Sweetman [1997] 3 I.R. 448. Between the cases of Sweetman and Corbally the jurisprudence is clear. Firstly a person seeking bail from this court is in a very different position from someone seeking bail from the court of trial because he comes before this court as a convictedperson. That does not mean that he cannot get bail but it does mean that he comes before this court without the presumption of innocence. The second matter to arise is this. There is an onus on the applicant to this court for bail to satisfy the court that there is some definite and discrete ground of appeal with a strong chance of success. If the ground of appeal involves a detailed analysis of the evidence before the court of trial of its nature it cannot be dealt with by this court on the basis of a preliminary view as to the strength of the appeal and that I am afraid is part of the difficulty which faces the applicant here. The third element to arise is this. If there is a risk, because of...