People (Attorney General) v Powell

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 09 February 1945
• Date: 09 February 1945
• Court: Court of Criminal Appeal

(C.C.A.),

The People (Attorney-General)

and

Powell

Conviction for carnal knowledge - Uncorroborated evidence of prosecutrix -Adequate warning to jury by trial Judge -Power of Court of Criminal Appeal to quash verdict which was unreasonable or not supported by the evidence - Conviction affirmed.

Applicant was convicted on several counts of having carnal knowledge of a girl of sixteen years of age contrary to s. 2, sub-s. 1, of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1935. The only evidence of the acts of carnal knowledge was the uncorroborated evidence of the prosecutrix. The trial Judge warned the jury of the danger of convicting on such evidence, but pointed out to them that they could do so. A certificate for leave to appeal having been refused, the applicant applied to the Court of Criminal Appeal for leave to appeal. On the hearing of this application, the applicant relied on the single ground that the verdict of the jury was perverse. The evidence of the prosecutrix, as it appeared in the transcript, revealed vagueness as to the dates when the alleged acts of intercourse took place, and there were certain discrepancies between her evidence on the direct examination and on cross-examination. The Court of Criminal Appeal requested the trial Judge to forward to the...