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The police are called to a bar in relation to an allegation of an assault. The attending police officers speak to a man who is bleeding from a cut to the face. A woman is arrested at the bar on suspicion of assaulting the man occasioning him actual bodily harm. The arresting officer notices blood on the woman’s hand.
The woman is taken to a police station. Her detention is authorised and she is subsequently interviewed under caution in the presence of her solicitor. On the advice of her solicitor, the woman exercises her right to silence in the interview and does not give an explanation for the blood on her hand.
The interviewing officer warns the woman that an assault is being investigated and that she is being asked to account for the blood on her hand as it is believed that the blood may be present because she committed the assault. She is reminded that the interview is being recorded and the record may be given in evidence at a court hearing, and that an inference may later be drawn by a court if she fails to account for the blood during the interview. The woman continues to exercise her right to silence.
The woman is charged with assaulting the man occasioning him actual bodily harm. The woman pleads not guilty and refuses to give evidence at her trial.
Can the trial court be invited to draw an adverse inference from the woman’s failure to account for the blood on her hand in her interview under caution?
A. No, because since the woman is not giving evidence at her trial, she is not relying upon a fact in her defence which she did not mention in her interview under caution.
B. No, because the woman has a right to silence in her interview under caution.
C. No, because the woman was advised by her solicitor to exercise her right to silence in her interview under caution.
D. Yes, because of the warning given to the woman in her interview under caution.
E. Yes, because it would have been reasonable for the woman to explain the blood on her hand in her interview under caution.
D - Yes, because of the warning given to the woman in her interview under caution.
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