Ched Evans wins appeal

[Childrenofthestones]

Sorry I can't link but it's on the BBC site.

I thought rape victims were totally anonymous too, until I actually experienced the court process myself.

there will be no reward. There doesn't need to be. The dangling carrot was just to get the witnesses to talk. They only need them to talk. They can't and won't reward them. They don't need to. The damage is already done now they have. If CE is acquitted as a result of this evidence then he has what he wanted. Nobody with half a brain cell would pursue him for the promised £50k and if they did no judge in the land would award it. Anyone who thought they were eating £50k for giving evidence is a fool.

Jen - the anonymity law relates only to the publication of information (e.g online or in the media). It does not cover all the other ways in which her identity could be shared.

Thanks woman

So CE (and fan club) couldn't publish her name but there was nothing to stop them speaking to everyone they know and passing her name around verbally.?

Jen - I know - it stinks, doesn't it? I expect all of Rhyl knew who she was, plus she was named on Twitter.

Plus Ched "I'm a footballer with lots of money" could pay Private Investigators to go around digging up the dirt on her.

I think that this is very dubious in a rape trial - where victims have a history of being blamed and scrutinised in a way no other witnesses or victims of other crimes are. The Law about bringing up previous sexual history was changed for this reason, why the hell was it changed back?

I would like to say for the record on here that it is a disgrace they were allowed to bring evidence of other partners in. It cannot be remotely relevant to the night in question, this 'witness' who is convinced "she is lying" was not even there. Since when is "I think she is lying" a valid witness statement? I hope the jury see through this for what it is - otherwise we are returning to the days when only women with a whiter than white past can get convictions for rape.

Ched Evans behaved in a predatory manner that night. Who does that?? Who appears in the room when 2 people are having sex, and just expects to join in, without even saying one solitary word to the person you're about to stick your dick into?

Yes Jen. And given that the court public gallery was probably full of nosy locals, and she will have had her name read out in court, I bet the whole town knowd exactly who she is.

And that will have happened again this time around. So anyone who didn't know already will definitely be aware now.

I totally agree UTGT.

The trial is in Cardiff this time. I wonder if that was deliberate as it was in Rhyl last time. Or do all retrials get done at a different court.

naively/stupidly I assumed it was a closed court! Why on earth was it open to the public? I just. Wow. That poor woman. And she had to sit there and hear/see the public's reactions to her sexual history and the events of that night. Why isn't that done in a closed court?

Closed courts are only allowed in certain rare circumstances.

I am so furious and sorry for anyone who has had to go through a rape case under the watch of all and sundry. I don't know why I didn't realise it was done in public. I just assumed it wasn't. So sorry for you all.

All trials are open to the public - that's how our legal system works.

That's partly why going to court as a rape victim is so hard. I had all.my rapist's supporters sat there smirking and sniggering. It's just how it works.

I'm not in favour of closed trials though, despite that.

Does Rhyll have a Crown Court? I'd have thought it wasn't big enough.

It may well have been deliberate not to hold it locally.

I was just reading the Guardian article today, and noticed at the end that the jury asked if they could read Clay McDonalds statements, but were told they could not since he had not been called to give evidence.

So, hopefully, the jury might wonder why, instead of presenting the evidence of someone who was there when the supposed consent was asked for and obtained, do we instead have evidence from two men who weren't even there? Which only relates to supposedly retrospective indication of consent because she supposedly used a relatively common phrase to some other men at other times....................

The more I think about, the weirder it seems! The only other direct witness of the supposed act of obtaining consent (apart from the victim herself of course) hasn't even been called by the defence! And the jury asked about it..............

Jen - if she chose to use special measures she may not have had to see the public. She could have been behind screens, or used a video link.

I didn't use screens, but most do I believe. Probably partly because they don't want to see the public in the gallery as well as not wanting to see the defendant.

That's interesting SomeDyke. It certainly raises questions..

From memory, didn't CM and CE's accounts conflict with each other? Maybe that's why.

Although it makes you wonder why the prosecution didn't call CM, as they could have.

Yes I think CMs evidence was that Ched asked him if he could have sex with the victim.

"The trial is in Cardiff this time. I wonder if that was deliberate as it was in Rhyl last time."
Actually, I think it was in Caernarfon the first time, not Rhyl itself.

Hang on. The only other person who was present in the room wasn't called to give evidence???

There is so much wrong with this case it just beggars belief!

Maybe CM is now a hostile witness, now that he isn't on the stand himself? People do change, after all.

Rhyl hasn't got a courtroom. The first trial started at Prestatyn magistrates and was then sent to Caernarfon crown.

This second trial is in Cardiff.

His absence with certainly have an impact on how the jury views CE's account of events.

If CE is telling the truth, why would he not call the one man who was there and can corroborate his story?

The only possible reason is because that man isn't prepared to testify for him. And that says a hell of a lot.

Running - that makes sense, thanks. I thought Rhyll was too small to have a CC.