Recent Judicial Decisions
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3500800402 |
| Published date | 01 October 1935 |
| Date | 01 October 1935 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Recent Judicial Decisions
R. v. Berkofsky
BASIS OF TAKING OUTSTANDING CHARGES INTO
CONSIDERATION
(25 CriminalAppeal
Cases,
page 66)
IN
this case the appellant was convicted and sentenced to
three years' penal servitude for receiving stolen property.
After the verdict the Chairman was informed that there
were two outstanding charges, and the Superintendent of
Police
said:
"The
difficulty is whether counsel will agree
to having these cases taken into account and dealt with
to-day." After consultation, counsel for the prisoner
said:
"I
have no objection."
The
charges were then stated in
detail, and the Clerk of the Court asked the prisoner whether
he wished those cases to be taken into consideration.
The
prisoner replied "
Yes".
It
was contended that there was nothing in the short-
hand note to show that the prisoner intended to admit the
truth
of those charges, and intimated that the prisoner did
not intend to do so.
In
the course of his judgment, Mr. Justice Humphries
said:
"With
regard to the general practice in this matter,
the Court desires to say that charges other than those con-
tained in the indictment can never be taken into considera-
tion by a court in sentencing aprisoner unless the prisoner
admits the truth of those charges, and it is desirable that the
presiding Judge in any Court, before passing sentence, should
make it clear to the prisoner that, if he asks that outstanding
388
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