Moran, R. v

Evidence of prior uncharged violent conduct may constitute misconduct and be admissible as bad-character evidence where it is relevant to an important matter in issue, including a defendant’s propensity for violence and knowledge of an associate’s violent tendency. Procedural non-compliance in advancing such evidence does not itself make a conviction unsafe. The trial judge retains a discretion and must assess the fairness of admission.

A formally declared unanimous verdict will not be reopened merely because jurors later regret their decision or assert that they felt pressured during deliberations. An inquiry into confidential deliberations requires some proper basis, such as evidence of external pressure or juror impropriety.

Noel Moran was convicted at the Central Criminal Court of the murder of Christopher Burke and sentenced to life imprisonment. The prosecution alleged that Moran and Gavin Ward entered the deceased’s home armed with swords and acted in a joint enterprise to kill or cause serious injury.

Moran sought leave to appeal against conviction on two grounds. First, he challenged the admission of CCTV evidence of an earlier violent incident involving him and Ward as bad-character evidence. Secondly, after the jury had been discharged, two jurors wrote expressing regret about the unanimous murder verdict and alleging pressure during deliberations. The central issues were whether the CCTV evidence was properly admitted and whether the letters justified an inquiry into the jury’s deliberations.

1. The application for leave to appeal against conviction was dismissed.

2. The Court upheld the admission of the CCTV evidence. The earlier incident was capable of being misconduct for the purposes of section 98 of the 2003 Act, although it had not resulted in a conviction. It was relevant under section 101(1)(d) to important matters in issue: Moran’s propensity for violence, his previous participation with Ward in violence, and his direct knowledge of Ward’s violent tendency.

3. The prosecution had failed to follow the appropriate procedure before seeking to adduce the bad-character evidence. That failure left the judge with a discretion to admit it notwithstanding non-compliance. It did not provide a basis for treating a murder conviction as unsafe merely to discipline the prosecution. Judge Goddard had considered the possible disproportionate visual impact of the CCTV footage and was entitled to conclude that admission would not adversely affect trial fairness. There was no misapprehension or misdirection warranting appellate intervention.

4. The post-verdict juror letters did not justify any further inquiry. The earlier note recording an equal division between murder and manslaughter expressed only the jury’s current position during deliberations. The jury later returned an unequivocal unanimous verdict of guilty of murder, with no sign of dissent or concern in court.

5. Later expressions of regret, alleged pressure by other jurors, or a change of heart did not show extrinsic pressure or investigable impropriety. An inquiry would improperly intrude upon the confidentiality of jury deliberations. There was therefore no sufficient basis for finding a miscarriage of justice.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Dismissed Moran’s application for leave to appeal against conviction: [2007] EWCA Crim 2947.
• Central Criminal Court Moran was convicted by a jury of murder on 12 June 2007 and sentenced on 26 July 2007 to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years, less time spent on remand.