NCJ Number
108731
Date Published
1983
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This 1981 New Zealand study examined the incidence of written depositions on preliminary hearings and their effects in an analysis of 238 cases committed for trial and 101 cases committed for sentence.
Abstract
Of these cases, 36.9 percent had no oral depositions, 11.8 percent had written depositions, and 38.3 percent had both. Oral hearings had an average of 6 witnesses, written hearings of 8. At least 37 percent of cases without oral depositions also had no witnesses, while some of the witnesses involved in the 38.3 percent of hearings with both oral and written depositions would not have been summoned. Expert witnesses used written depositions more than police, who used them more than lay witnesses. Hearings with written depositions were shortest, followed by oral and combination depositions. Cases with written depositions also took longer to get to committal than those with oral depositions.