Open verdict

Last updated

The open verdict is an option open to a coroner's jury at an inquest in the legal system of England and Wales. The verdict means the jury confirms the death is suspicious, but is unable to reach any other verdicts open to them. [1] Mortality studies[ which? ] consider it likely that the majority of open verdicts are recorded in cases of suicide where the intent of the deceased could not be proved, [2] although the verdict is recorded in many other circumstances.

Contents

Meaning

Two lord chief justices have cautioned an open verdict does not mean the jury has failed to do their duty of explaining the cause of death, but that in some cases, there is genuine doubt about the cause of death. [3] : 472  However, the uncertainty explicit in the verdict has led many to regard it as an unsatisfactory one. [4] Current legal guidance is to avoid open verdicts if possible:

an open verdict is thus only to be used in the last resort if there is insufficient evidence to enable the coroner or the jury to reach any other conclusions. The fact of there possibly being uncertainty as to other parts of the inquisition, for example as to the precise cause, time or place of death, does not authorise recording an open verdict if there is sufficient evidence to record how the deceased came by his death. In other words, the coroner or jury should not fail to reach a positive conclusion merely because there is some doubt on some minor point. [5]

Standard of proof

In an obiter dictum (legal opinion not forming part of the judgment) in the case of R v West London Coroner, ex parte Gray [6] in 1986, the divisional court stated that the open verdict was, as with the verdicts of unlawful killing and suicide, required to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. [3] : 471  However, the fact of a verdict of suicide requires "some evidence of the deceased having intended to take his own life" means open verdicts are often recorded in cases where suicide is suspected, but the evidence of intent is lacking. For this reason some studies of suicides have also included those deaths in which open verdicts were recorded. [2]

Notable open verdicts

In May 1961, a fire broke out in the Top Storey Club in Bolton, Greater Manchester. Nineteen people died in the fire (fourteen in the fire and five who jumped from windows on the eighth floor) but despite an investigation by the police and fire brigade, no actual cause for the fire could be given and the coroner recorded an open verdict on all who died in the fire. [7] [8]

The 1972 inquest into the death by hanging of sailor Nigel Tetley returned an open verdict. The attending pathologist noted that the circumstances suggested masochistic sexual activity rather than suicide. [9]

The 1978 death of Keith Moon, drummer for The Who, was given an open verdict, with the inquest being unable to determine if his death was accidental or the result of suicide.

In 1982, the jury returned an open verdict on the death of Helen Smith, a British nurse who had fallen to her death in Saudi Arabia during a party; [10] this was interpreted as a rejection of the theory that Smith had accidentally fallen, and a victory for her father Ron Smith's claim that she had been killed. [11]

In February 1997, actor Barry Evans was found dead in his home by police. The police discovered Evans' body in his living room after going to the house to tell him they had recovered his stolen car which had been reported missing the day before. [12] The cause of his death has never been confirmed. The coroner found a blow to Evans' head and also found high levels of alcohol in his system. A short written will was found on a table next to his body, and a spilled packet of aspirin (bearing a pre-decimalisation price tag indicating that the pack was at least 26 years old) was found on the floor, although the coroner concluded that Evans had not taken any of these. An open verdict was eventually given. An 18-year-old man was arrested but later released without charge due to insufficient evidence. [13]

Two successive inquests, in May 1981 and May 2004, have returned open verdicts on the victims of the New Cross house fire in which 13 black teenagers were killed by a fire at a birthday party. The families of the victims have long believed that the fire was started deliberately, possibly as a racist attack, and the verdict was interpreted as a rejection of that theory. [14]

The inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, who was shot dead in 2005 by Metropolitan Police officers who mistakenly believed him to be a suicide bomber, returned an open verdict in December 2008. The coroner had specifically directed them that they were not able to return a verdict of unlawful killing, and left them the alternatives of the open verdict or ruling the killing lawful, [15] and the verdict (together with the answers to an associated questionnaire given to the jury) was interpreted as a condemnation of the police. [16]

The death of Bob Woolmer, an English cricket coach, on 18 March 2007 while coaching Pakistan during the World Cup was given an open verdict on 28 November 2007, with the inquest after hearing from more than 50 witnesses over five weeks being unable to determine whether his death was due to murder, natural causes or an accident. [17] [18]

Related Research Articles

Inquests in England and Wales are held into sudden or unexplained deaths and also into the circumstances of and discovery of a certain class of valuable artefacts known as "treasure trove". In England and Wales, inquests are the responsibility of a coroner, who operates under the jurisdiction of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. In some circumstances where an inquest cannot view or hear all the evidence, it may be suspended and a public inquiry held with the consent of the Home Secretary.

A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within the coroner's jurisdiction.

Henry Bruce Stanley was a Scottish painter and decorator who was shot dead by the Metropolitan Police in London in contentious circumstances. Initially his death was recorded with an open verdict, before being ruled as unlawful killing by a jury on appeal and finally returned to an open verdict by the High Court.

Operation Kratos was a set of tactics developed by London's Metropolitan Police Service for dealing with suspected suicide bombers, most notably firing shots to the head without warning. The tactics were developed shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks, based in part on consultation with Israeli and Sri Lankan law enforcement agencies on how to deal with suicide bombers. Little was revealed about these tactics until after the mistaken shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes on 22 July 2005, in the wake of the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The term is no longer used by the Metropolitan Police, although similar tactics remain in force.

In English law, unlawful killing is a verdict that can be returned by an inquest in England and Wales when someone has been killed by one or more unknown persons. The verdict means that the killing was done without lawful excuse and in breach of criminal law. This includes murder, manslaughter, infanticide and causing death by dangerous driving. A verdict of unlawful killing generally leads to a police investigation, with the aim of gathering sufficient evidence to identify, charge and prosecute those responsible.

Operation Paget was the British Metropolitan Police inquiry established in 2004 to investigate the conspiracy theories about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in a car crash in Paris in 1997. The inquiry's first report with the findings of the criminal investigation was published in 2006. The inquiry was wound up following the conclusion of the British inquest in 2008, in which a jury delivered its verdict of an "unlawful killing" due to the "gross negligence" of both the driver of Diana's car and the pursuing paparazzi.

Gertrude "Bobby" Hullett, a resident of Eastbourne, East Sussex, England, was a patient of Dr John Bodkin Adams, who was indicted for her murder but not brought to trial for it. Adams was tried in 1957 for the murder of Edith Alice Morrell, and the prosecution intended to proceed with the Hullett indictment as a second prosecution that could follow the Morrell case in certain circumstances, although it did not bring the case to trial following the verdict in the Morrell trial.

An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a coroner or medical examiner. Generally, inquests are conducted only when deaths are sudden or unexplained. An inquest may be called at the behest of a coroner, judge, prosecutor, or, in some jurisdictions, upon a formal request from the public. A coroner's jury may be convened to assist in this type of proceeding. Inquest can also mean such a jury and the result of such an investigation. In general usage, inquest is also used to mean any investigation or inquiry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes</span> 2005 wrongful fatal shooting by British police

Jean Charles da Silva e de Menezes was a Brazilian man killed by officers of the London Metropolitan Police Service at Stockwell station on the London Underground, after he was wrongly deemed to be one of the fugitives involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts. These events took place two weeks after the London bombings of 7 July 2005, in which 52 people were killed.

Gunasegaran Rajasundram was a Royal Malaysian Police detainee who died in the police lock-up while under arrest for suspicion of drug possession. Coincidentally, his death was on the same day as Teoh Beng Hock's body was found. The case of R. Gunasegaran is crucial to the discussion on police practices because it highlights several issues with the policing of Malaysia: the safety of whistleblowers, human rights during police custody, the procedures of inquests, and the practices of the police force. Understanding this case could bring us to find out what more could be done to better the policing system of Malaysia.

Paul Knapman DL was Her Majesty's coroner for Westminster, from 1980 to 2011. His responsibility for investigating sudden deaths as an independent judicial officer saw him preside over numerous notable cases.

The Ashley Smith inquest was an Ontario coroner's inquest into the death of Ashley Smith, a teenager who died by self-inflicted strangulation on 19 October 2007 while under suicide watch in custody at the Grand Valley Institution for Women. Despite guards watching her on video monitors, Smith was able to strangle herself with a strip of cloth, and it was 45 minutes before guards or supervisors entered her cell and confirmed her death. The warden and deputy warden were fired after the incident; although the four guards and supervisors in immediate contact with Smith were initially charged with negligent homicide, those charges were withdrawn a year later. Smith's family brought a lawsuit against the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) for negligence; this lawsuit was settled out of court in May 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Mark Duggan</span> British black man shot and killed by police in 2011

Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old black British man, was shot dead by police in Tottenham, North London on 4 August 2011. The Metropolitan Police stated that officers were attempting to arrest Duggan on suspicion of planning an attack and that he was in possession of a handgun. Duggan died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The circumstances of Duggan's death resulted in public protests in Tottenham, which led to conflict with police and escalated into riots across London and other English cities.

In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinction is made between the cause of death, which is a specific disease or injury, versus manner of death, which is primarily a legal determination versus the mechanism of death which does not explain why the person died or the underlying cause of death and can include cardiac arrest or exsanguination. Different categories are used in different jurisdictions, but manner of death determinations include everything from very broad categories like "natural" and "homicide" to specific manners like "traffic accident" or "gunshot wound". In some cases an autopsy is performed, either due to general legal requirements, because the medical cause of death is uncertain, upon the request of family members or guardians, or because the circumstances of death were suspicious.

The Top Storey Club was a nightclub in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It achieved notoriety for a fire which occurred on 1 May 1961 in which 19 people perished.

Anthony Grainger was shot and killed by an armed Greater Manchester Police officer in Culcheth, Cheshire, England, on 3 March 2012. At the time, Grainger was unarmed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisa Collins</span>

Louisa Collins 11 August 1847 – 8 January 1889) was an Australian convicted murderer. She lived in the Sydney suburb of Botany and married twice, with both husbands dying of arsenic poisoning under suspicious circumstances. Collins was tried for murder on four separate occasions, with the first three juries failing to reach a verdict. At the fourth trial the jury delivered a guilty verdict for the murder of her second husband and she was sentenced to death. Louisa Collins was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol on the morning of 8 January 1889. She was the first woman hanged in Sydney and the last woman to be executed in New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deaths at Deepcut army barracks</span> A series of deaths at a British Army camp in Surrey, England

The Deaths at Deepcut Barracks is a series of incidents that took place involving the deaths in obscure circumstances of five British Army trainee soldiers at the Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut in the county of Surrey, between 1995 and 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of Chan Yin-lam</span> Death during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests

The death of Chan Yin-lam occurred during the 2019 Hong Kong protests, and gave rise to speculations by protesters about its cause. Lam was a 15-year-old student who died on or shortly after 19 September 2019. Her naked corpse was found floating in the sea near Yau Tong, Hong Kong, on 22 September 2019. Following a preliminary autopsy, police asserted that no foul play was suspected and that Chan had killed herself, while there were allegations that she was murdered by Hong Kong authorities in connection with her participation in the 2019 Hong Kong protests. The coroner's inquest concluded with the jury unanimously returning an open verdict, after Magistrate Ko Wai-hung ruled out both homicide and suicide as possible causes due to insufficient evidence to support this.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of Mark Saunders</span> 2008 shooting death in London

Mark Saunders was a British barrister who was shot dead by police on 6 May 2008 after a five-hour siege at his home in Markham Square in Chelsea, London. Saunders was a successful divorce lawyer who struggled with depression and alcoholism. He had been behaving erratically and drinking heavily in the hours before the incident. Neighbours called the police after Saunders repeatedly fired a shotgun from a window shortly before 17:00. When armed police officers arrived, Saunders fired at their vehicle and the siege began. More armed officers arrived and took up positions in surrounding buildings and on the street. Saunders fired on two more occasions and the police returned fire, slightly wounding him. Around 20 minutes after the previous round of shooting, just after 21:30, Saunders waved the shotgun out of a window. As he lowered it in the direction of a group of police officers, seven officers fired eleven shots, of which at least five struck him. Police entered his flat minutes later and Saunders was taken to a waiting ambulance where he was pronounced dead.

References

  1. 1 2 Linsley, K. R.; Schapira, Kurt; Kelly, T. P. (2001). "Open verdict v. suicide - importance to research". British Journal of Psychiatry. 178 (5): 465–468. doi: 10.1192/bjp.178.5.465 . PMID   11331564.
  2. 1 2 Tweedie, June; Ward, Tony (Winter 1989). "The Gibraltar Shootings and the Politics of Inquests". Journal of Law and Society. 16 (4): 464–476. doi:10.2307/1410331. JSTOR   1410331.
  3. ↑ See, for example Jon J. Nordby PhD, Dead Reckoning: The Art of Forensic Detection, CRC Press, 1999, p. 243: "An open verdict satisfies no one."
  4. ↑ Jervis on Coroners, 11th ed. (Sweet & Maxwell, 1993) p. 253, paragraph 13(32)
  5. ↑ R v West London Coroner, ex parte Gray [1988] QB 467
  6. ↑ Details of Coroner's Inquest, 30 January 1961 – June 13, 1961, Folder ABZ/73/1, Bolton Archive
  7. ↑ Details of Coroner's Inquest, Folder ABZ/73/3, 2 May 1961 – 25 November 1968, Bolton Archive
  8. ↑ Eakin, Chris (2009). A Race Too Far. London: Ebury Press.
  9. ↑ Horsnell, Michael (10 December 1982). "Smith presses for inquiry after an open verdict". The Times. p. 1.
  10. ↑ Foot, Paul (1983). The Helen Smith Story. Fontana Paperbacks. pp. 389–398.
  11. ↑ Bennetto, Jason (12 February 1997). "Police investigate 'suspicious' death of sitcom actor" . The Independent . London, UK: Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
  12. ↑ Upton, Julian (2004). Fallen Stars: Tragic Lives and Lost Careers. London: Headpress. p. 89. ISBN   1-900486-38-5.
  13. ↑ " "Open verdicts on New Cross fire". BBC News. 6 May 2004.
  14. ↑ " "Open verdict at Menezes inquest". BBC News. 12 December 2008.
  15. ↑ O'Neill, Sean (13 December 2008). "Jean Charles de Menezes jury condemns police". The Times. p. 1.
  16. ↑ "Police close Woolmer case". The Australian. AFP. 29 November 2007.
  17. ↑ "Open verdict in Woolmer inquest". BBC News. 29 November 2007.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.