At Monan Gozzett, we are a team of experienced crown court solicitors dedicated to providing expert trial preparation services.
Our extensive knowledge of the legal system and strong track record of success make us the ideal choice for individuals and businesses seeking reliable and professional representation.
Comprehensive Crown Court Trial Preparation Services
Running serious and complex criminal cases demands a specialist and wide-ranging skillset that needs to be applied to your specific circumstances.
These include:
- having the highest quality of analytical and investigative disciplines, often combining both legal and financial expertise.
- the ability to look at complex problems from varying positions in order to develop the best arguments and solutions.
- bringing together the right team to work collaboratively and flexibly, often for a sustained period of time.
- applying professional project management skills that can recognise and anticipate the critical tasks required and when they need to be taken for your case.
We will make you feel like you are our only client due to the level of service you will receive.
At Monan Gozzett, our expertise and experience defending clients are a given, but it is our core values, empathy and understanding, that make us stand out from the crowd. Understanding what you face, how it will be dealt with, and how you can deal with this are key.
We will spend time investigating your case, interviewing witnesses, and collating information to ensure the best results for you. We ensure that we handpick the right counsel, liaising with them throughout so that you receive a first-class service.
We offer representation at Crown Courts across England & Wales, and given our extensive network of working with leading KCs and experienced Counsel, we can ensure you get the right level and experience of Counsel at short notice.
What Is Required When Preparing For A Trial In The Crown Court?
The lead-up to preparing for a trial in the Crown Court can be very daunting for our clients.
The Crown Court hears some of the most serious cases, and therefore, if convicted, the sentences attracted can range from non-custodial to lengthy custodial sentences and be life-changing not only for our clients but for their family, so Crown Court trial preparation requires expertise and close attention to the finest of details.
The type of preparation conducted can include close examination and scrutinisation of all prosecution evidence.
Picking apart of the prosecution case and mounting complex legal arguments to ensure evidence which could be damaging to the defence is not presented to the jury.
We attend all defence witnesses on behalf of our clients, taking extensive and detailed witness statements from them. This type of evidence is the evidence, which is more easily accessible to defence lawyers, but what about the evidence that is difficult to obtain – like, for example, evidence which could only be obtained by covert surveillance and private investigation?
That is where we leave no stone unturned and work with some of the best experts in the country to uncover evidence which otherwise would not have come to the attention of the court and, ultimately, the jury.
It's all in the preparation
Like most things in life – preparation is key. The success of a trial in the Crown Court can not only be determined in the court but in the preparation that takes place in a case before it even reaches trial.
The preparation of a Crown Court trial is set out in four stages which both the prosecution and defence must follow to ensure a case is sufficiently prepared for a trial to be effective. In brief these stages are set out as follows:
Stage 1
Known as Initial disclosure by the prosecution: This requires the prosecution to disclose any unused material which might reasonably be considered capable of undermining the prosecution case or of assisting the case for the accused.
Stage 2
Commonly referred to as "Defence disclosure": This is made by a defence statement (sometimes referred to as a "defence case statement"), which is mandatory in Crown Court cases.
Stage 3
Prosecution response to defence statement and other defence items (14-28 days after Stage 2)
Stage 4
For defence to provide material/requests/applications.
Whilst the stages of disclosure in the Crown Court can be easily identified, knowing the right evidence to serve at the right time or the evidence that should be challenged and how is where our expertise lies and could be the difference between our client being convicted or acquitted at trial so we prepare, prepare and prepare again before our clients cases reach trial.
The Jury
When a case is heard in the Crown Court for trial it will be heard by a jury.
A jury is a panel of 12 adults from the public selected at random from the electoral register.
The jury will decide whether a defendant (the accused) is guilty or not guilty, having heard all of the evidence presented during the trial, including speeches from the prosecution, defence and summing up of the evidence by the Trial Judge.
The Judge will preside over the case and give rulings on any points of law. For example, the Judge will rule upon legal arguments presented by either the prosecution or defence which might exclude evidence from the trial and therefore prevent certain evidence from being presented to the jury.
Everyone involved in the trial process plays a very important role in presenting the case to the jury so that the rule of law is upheld, and justice can be done.
The jury, having heard all of the evidence, will need to, in the first instance, try to return a unanimous verdict upon which all of them agree.
Sometimes, juries are unable to reach a unanimous verdict and the Judge may direct them to return a majority verdict, in other words a verdict upon which most of them agree and this number will depend upon how many jurors remain on the jury, as sometimes jurors are released due to illness or other overriding commitments.
If there are fewer than nine jurors left on the jury panel by the time a verdict needs to be returned, only a unanimous verdict will do, and if they cannot reach a unanimous verdict, the jury will be released, and the prosecution will need to consider whether they would like the matter to be tried again before a fresh jury.
This is unusual but can happen and so we always make clients aware of the way in which juries are selected and how the trial process can play out.
Contact Us Today for Expert Crown Court Trial Preparation
If you are in need of professional crown court trial preparation services, contact Monan Gozzett today.
Our experienced team of crown court solicitors is ready to guide you through every step of the process and provide you with the best possible representation.
Schedule a consultation with us to discuss your case and learn how we can help you achieve a successful outcome.
If you would like to speak to our expert legal team about this, or any related subject then please contact our team by phone on 0207 936 6329, Email or by completing our Quick Contact Form below.