THE prosecutor at the Jodi Jones murder trial made a deliberate attempt to blacken the character of her boyfriend, Luke Mitchell, it was claimed yesterday.
Donald Findlay, QC, for Mitchell, told appeal judges that the advocate depute, Alan Turnbull, QC, had suggested that Jodi's death could be likened to the murder of a Hollywood starlet, known as the Black Dahlia.
"The reality was that there were mo
re differences than similarities," he said.
"The Crown skilfully and persistently pushed evidence to the limits in order to obtain from it some kind of sinister inference."
Mr Findlay argued that the evidence led against Mitchell, 19, showed only that he could have been Jodi's killer, not that he was her killer.
The Crown may have demonstrated he had the opportunity to murder her, but guilt beyond reasonable doubt had not been proved, it was submitted.
Mitchell is attempting to have his conviction for murdering the teenager overturned at the Court of Criminal Appeal. Both were aged 14 at the time of her death in 2003. Her mutilated body was found in woods beside a path linking their homes in Dalkeith, Midlothian.
The trial heard Mitchell and Jodi were fans of the rock star Marilyn Manson. The singer had images on his website – which he had painted – of the murder of an actress, Elizabeth Short, in 1947. She had been called the "Black Dahlia" because of her liking for wearing dark clothes.
Mr Findlay said it had been suggested at the trial that there were similarities between the wounds on Jodi and those depicted in Manson's artwork.
"There was not a scrap of evidence that Luke Mitchell had ever seen the artwork before the murder of Jodi," he added.
Referring to the advocate depute, now the judge, Lord Turnbull, Mr Findlay continued: "This was a deliberate and calculated attempt by a hugely experienced and able prosecutor to blacken the character of the young man, even in the knowledge that, evidentially, it amounted to nothing.
"The advocate depute was using this material plainly to create some prejudice in the minds of the jury."
He went on: "The sinister can only be drawn if that is a reasonable conclusion. The danger was that if there was impressed on the jury a notion of the sinister, then everything would be viewed as being sinister.
"That was quite a deliberate tactic on the part of the Crown. It was necessary for the Crown to have the jury look at everything through sinister eyes. That was not a fair approach."
At the trial, the jury heard that Mitchell had discovered Jodi's body while searching for her with members of her family. The prosecution laid great store on his "finding" the body, maintaining that he had known where it lay because he was her killer.
Mr Findlay told the appeal court that he wanted to pose some questions about the discovery, if Mitchell were the killer.
"Why would he want the body to be found? Why would he want to be present when the body was found? Why would he not want the elements to do their work on any evidence that might be present linking him to the crime?"
The hearing continues.
The full article contains 540 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
