Prosecutors get record-breaking 91.8% conviction rate in serious cases
Almost 92 per cent of people charged with serious crimes in Victoria either admit to their offending or are found guilty at trial – the state's highest recorded guilty rate – according to annual reports tabled in State Parliament before Christmas.
The reports, which contain confirmation that sometimes controversial plea deals have helped improve the guilty rate, also reveal that juries take, on average, seven hours of deliberations before they reach a verdict.
In its 2017-18 annual report, the Office of Public Prosecutions says that guilty outcomes were recorded in 91.8 per cent of the more than 2500 criminal cases the organisation prosecuted. This was an increase from 90.1 per cent the previous year and 88.5 per cent in 2013-14.
In 80.4 per cent of the cases prosecuted, criminals entered a guilty plea either before or during trial. This figure is also the highest on record, the OPP says.
The remainder result from when a jury convicts an accused person. Just 7.5 per cent of people who had their cases prosecuted in either the Supreme or County courts in 2017-18 were found not guilty, through a jury verdict (fewer than 1 per cent of cases were completed by other means).
There were 351 trials in Victoria's two highest courts over the year, and the figures show that about four in 10 people who front a jury are acquitted. The conviction rate at trial in 2009-10, the latest report says, was 52.3 per cent.
The proportion of cases proceeding to trial has also steadily declined in recent years.
In 2009-10, a jury deliberated on 25.9 per cent of cases, whereas 18.9 per cent of serious matters went to trial in 2017-18.
In its latest report the OPP acknowledges resolving cases early – often through plea deals – plays a part in having criminals admit their offending and avoiding trials, which can draw out cases and bring uncertainty.
Plea deals have caused controversy in recent years, when criminals admit to lesser charges than they originally faced. Criminals get sentencing discounts if they plead guilty to charges and avoid trials.
"OPP solicitors assess each matter as early as possible for a potential guilty plea to appropriate charges that reflect the accused’s criminality, based on what can be proven beyond reasonable doubt, and that allows for a sentence that adequately reflects the criminality," the annual report says.
"The Director [of Public Prosecutions'] policy provides guidance and instruction to OPP solicitors and prosecutors in relation to resolving matters as guilty pleas.
"As well as achieving fair and just outcomes in an efficient way, guilty pleas may relieve victims and witnesses of the burden of giving evidence at a trial, and provide certainty of outcome."
The County Court is the state's busiest for trials and hears about 90 per cent of jury cases. The Supreme Court is reserved for homicide, terrorism and some major fraud cases.
In its 2016-17 annual report, also tabled before Christmas, the County Court says that of the matters that go to trial, most (54.4 per cent) are completed within a week. Only 3.2 per cent last longer than four weeks.
The County Court report revealed that juries take, on average, seven hours to reach their verdict and judges spend about 2½ hours directing them before deliberations.
The report says 27 per cent of accused people (excluding those on trial for sexual offence charges) opt to give evidence themselves.
Forty-eight per cent of people charged with sexual offences go to trial, which reflects the preparedness of those accused to go before a jury rather than plead guilty.
"This is a much higher rate than the general list, where approximately 26 per cent of cases proceeded to trial," Judge Meryl Sexton, the judge in charge of the sexual offences list, wrote.
"This figure illustrates that sexual offence cases are far less likely to resolve into a plea of guilty and, combined with the complexities particular to sexual offence trials, highlights the substantial workload that sexual offence trials place on judges."