Sullivan did not, realistically, expect that his defence would actually succeed. It was a highly academic argument and there were legal precedents against it.
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Casement's best hope, in the view of many, would be a conviction followed by a reprieve. His motion to quash the indictment was, predictably, refused. He had staked everything on this line of defence, and could not now change course and call witnesses. Casement was allowed to make a brief unsworn statement, then both sides addressed the jury in turn. In his speech, Sullivan began to shift his defence towards that which had been suggested by Casement and Shaw, drawing parallels between the actions of Casement and those of the Ulster Volunteers. However, he was rebuked by the bench and could not continue with this line of argument.
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Chief Justice Reading charged the jury before they retired, and in less than an hour they returned with the unsurprising verdict of 'Guilty'. Having been convicted, Casement could then make a speech from the dock. This was his opportunity to explain and justify the Rising, and he read out an eloquent speech, contextualising the events of the previous three years. When he concluded, the judges donned the traditional black caps and passed the sentence of death.
The five senior judges heard more than a day's worth of argument from Sullivan, but it was not considered necessary for the Attorney General to address the court at all. The judges rejected the appeal. Leave to appeal to the House of Lords was refused, because the Attorney General would not certify that the case concerned a point of law of exceptional public importance.
Even at this late stage in proceedings, Casement and his supporters still had hope: Usually, the more influential individuals and groups that supported a petition for clemency, the more likely it was to be granted. Many others refused, however, either because of their abhorrence at Casement's betrayal, or because of the rumours of his homosexuality.
Was Roger Casement's trial a legal travesty?
These were fuelled by the circulation of parts of the Black Diaries. Ernley Blackwell, the Home Office's legal advisor, was largely responsible for the leak, and also prepared a memorandum for the Cabinet referring to the diaries and emphasising that Casement's sentence should be carried out.
The stigma of homosexuality had a devastating effect on public support for Casement. No reprieve was granted, and Casement was hanged on August 3. Was the Casement trial a travesty of justice? There was a certain inevitability about the verdict. It was extremely unlikely that any English jury would have failed to find him guilty. In fact, during his speech from the dock, Casement lamented the fact that he had not been tried before an Irish jury: I have a right, an indefeasible right Casement would have had a very strong chance of acquittal by an Irish jury; however, had he been tried in Ireland it is unlikely that the authorities would have been prepared to risk this.
He would either have been court-martialled like the other rebels, or tried in a juryless civil court following the suspension of jury trials during Easter week. One striking omission from the trial was any mention of Casement's real reason for landing in Ireland. The prosecution sidestepped this issue because it would have weakened or at least complicated their case; Casement avoided mentioning it because he did not wish to appear disloyal to the rebels, especially in the aftermath of the executions.
In any event, it probably would not have helped his defence, because his treasonable acts were said to have been committed while he was in Germany. There were other dubious aspects to the trial, such as Smith's oblique references to 'a diary' before the jury, and Casement's unhappiness with Sullivan's defence.
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- English–Irish Dictionary (de Bhaldraithe): travesty.
Although there were certainly defects in Casement's trial, the fact that he received a full jury trial at least afforded him the opportunity to make his speech from the dock; something denied to those who were summarily convicted in the immediate aftermath of the Rising. John Dorney The Easter Rising, it is often argued, had no democratic mandate.
theranchhands.com | Form and Entries for Horse Travesty of Law (IRE)
In the burning GPO, Pearse wondered if they had done the right thing after all. Yet the language of Patrick Pearse a century ago must Brendan O'Connor It is fitting, isn't it, that we can't agree what it was about, or what it achieved, or what its legacy is or how best to commemorate it. Was Roger Casement's trial a legal travesty? Dr Niamh Howlin examines the evidence in Roger Casement's London trial - the only full court hearing afforded one of the rebels Roger Casement is escorted to the gallows of Pentonville Prison, London after being found guilty of treason.
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