JN204 Lecture Notes - Homicide, Sub Judice
Document Summary
Contempt of court contempt of court exists to ensure trial by court instead of trial by media and popular opinion. Stems from serious concerns about what opinions and evidence potential jurors might hear before or during a trial. For the presumption of innocence to have any meaning, people charged with crimes must not be convicted in the media and in the public mind before a court passes judgement. Any suggestion that a suspect is guilty as charged before a conviction is made. Publishing evidence that may never be presented in open court. Disclosing that a defendant has confessed to police. The closer you are to a trial"s commencement, the greater the risk of being charged with contempt of court for something you"re published. Any conduct that tends to being the authority and administration of law into disrespect or disregard or tends to interfere with or to prejudice parties or witnesses involved in a case before the court -