Day v R.

In an appeal alleging incompetent representation, professional failures do not themselves make a conviction unsafe. The appellant must identify resulting errors or irregularities which rendered the trial unfair or unsafe. The court must assess tactical decisions in their full forensic context. A decision which avoids revealing damaging admissions is not unsound merely because it might have enabled contrary evidence to be tested. Where fresh or omitted evidence is relied on, the question is whether it might reasonably have displaced the jury’s conclusion. An appeal succeeds only if the alleged deficiency could have affected the safety of the conviction.

Day v R. concerned a conviction for murder following a violent street fight in which the victim suffered fatal injuries. Mr Day was convicted at the Central Criminal Court on 26 March 1993 and his original appeal was dismissed on 2 December 1994.

Following a reference by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, Mr Day contended that poor pre-trial preparation and counsel’s decisions at trial had made his conviction unsafe. The complaints concerned the taking of instructions, the late instruction of leading counsel, the decision not to cross-examine a co-accused, the handprint evidence, Mr Day’s decision not to give evidence, and unavailable character evidence.

The central issue was whether any identified deficiency in representation had caused errors or irregularities which made the trial unfair or the conviction unsafe.

1. Appeal dismissed. The court held that none of the complaints established that the murder conviction was unsafe.

2. Following Thakrar [2001] EWCA Crim 1096, the governing inquiry was the single test of safety. Incompetent representation was not, by itself, a ground of appeal. The appellant had to show identifiable trial errors or irregularities caused by the incompetence, and that those matters rendered the trial unfair or unsafe.

3. The solicitors’ failure to obtain a single coherent and signed proof of Mr Day’s account was a serious failing. The court nevertheless found that the statements substantially recorded Mr Day’s instructions, and that leading counsel had obtained and understood Mr Day’s final account in consultation. The late instruction of counsel had not prevented competent preparation or trial conduct.

4. The decision not to cross-examine Monaghan was a reasonable tactical decision. Cross-examination would have required disclosure of Mr Day’s own admissions of serious violence against the victim near the Cortina, thereby weakening the forensic advantage arising from uncertainty in the prosecution evidence. The proposed alternative strategy, including Mr Day giving evidence and inviting a manslaughter verdict, would have exposed him to substantial additional risk and would not have advanced his defence to murder.

5. The failure to investigate character evidence was a significant defect in preparation. However, the evidence was qualified by a previous caution and was unlikely to have affected the verdict. Applying the approach in Pendleton [2002] 1 WLR 72, the court could not conclude that the evidence and arguments now relied upon might reasonably have displaced the jury’s acceptance of Miss Tuckwell’s evidence, corroborated by the handprint.

The conviction therefore remained safe and the appeal was dismissed.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)—following a reference by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, dismissed Mr Day’s appeal and held that his conviction was safe: [2003] EWCA Crim 1060 .
• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)—dismissed Mr Day’s original appeal on 2 December 1994.
• Central Criminal Court—convicted Mr Day of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment on 26 March 1993.