Did the Jury Misbehave? Dont Ask, because We Do Not Want to Know.

Extract

In R. v. Quereshi [2002] 1 W.L.R. 518 the defendant, who was Asian, was convicted of arson with intent to endanger life, for which he was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. A few days after the verdict a juror made a series of allegations to the court administrator which the administrator later summarised as follows:

Despite the usher’s warning not to make racist remarks, disparaging remarks were made throughout the trial by some members of the jury about the defendant’s appearance, his accent, his poor English, his mannerisms, and his business integrity. It is alleged that the following remarks were made during the trial: “I know his sort, they’re all the same”; “I have worked with them in Birmingham. I know what they’re like”; “the only reason he’s got a clean record is because he’s never been caught” and “he would have been better off staying in India.” Some members of the jury appeared to have reached a decision at the outset of the trial and did not change their minds. During the trial, newspapers dealing with the trial were brought into the jury retiring room by jurors and shown around. At least three jurors had mobile phones and two of them used them to contact outsiders during the trial and to tell them about the progress of the trial. A juror fell asleep during the evidence. A juror was deaf and could not hear all the evidence. Other members of the jury adopted a bullying attitude.

On hearing this, Quereshi unsurprisingly appealed, asking the Court of Appeal to have the allegations properly investigated.