Banknotes and marked money
evidence which relate to content. A number of cases illustrate the importance of this kind of evidence.
In Urizar Canada,
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the court noted the victim’s demeanour in court in its assessment of her credibility, and mentioned that the experience of the trial and its duration caused the
victim to have some episodes of disorganization. She would start to cry, her memory lapses increased and she would have to request an adjournment. The court’s inal assessment was
that the victim was credible, and her demeanour provided one foundation for that assessment.
Other cases in which victim demeanour is mentioned as part of the evidence are Muñoz Argentina
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in which the victim’s demeanour provided support for her testimony. On the
other hand in R. v. Ng Canada
186
the victim’s “evasive” demeanour served as a piece of
evidence opposing her credibility. Similarly in Giuseppe Aserio Germany,
187
the court held that the victim, who was barely able to speak and cried a lot during proceedings, was
overly dramatic and therefore not credible.
In I. Austria
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the defendant was convicted of human traficking under aggravating circumstances
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and other charges for buying and selling at least ive women from Bulgaria to be exploited in prostitution. Among other evidence, the court considered the defendant’s
emotionless and detached demeanour in court when he replied to the accusations. It was the Court’s impression that this assisted in proving the apparent ease with which he earned his
money as a pimp.
The importance of victim demeanour: a prosecutor’s impressions
An Australian expert who prosecuted the Wei Tang Australia case
a
attested to the importance of victim demeanour in court:
“It made an impression on the court that the victims, who had been prostitutes for many years, had dificulty in describing the sexual acts they were called upon to perform. It could be seen that
they were ashamed. Some were angry and some burst into tears which were clearly ‘real’ tears. Thus, during the course of her evidence, one victim openly wept when she recounted how she
had been physically inspected by the accused in the presence of others as if she was cattle, and again when she recalled the accused telling the others present that she was ugly compared with
the other prostitutes at the brothel. Several jurors seemed moved”.
a
Previously cited; see also the list of all cases provided in Index of all cases. For detailed facts, see the in-depth analysis in section 5.3 of the Case Digest.
Situations in which the victim’s appearance was used as supporting evidence include cases in which the defendants had victims tattoo their bodies to denote the defendants’ ownership
over them. This use of tattoos to denote ownership in traficking cases has been reported in various countries such as the Netherlands.
190
184
See Index of all cases. For detailed facts, see the in-depth analysis in section 5.2 of the Case Digest.
185
See Index of all cases.
186
See Index of all cases.
187
See Index of all cases.
188
41 Hv 1114g Vienna High Court for Criminal Matters, Austria. It is to be noted that this is a court of irst instance.
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The aggravating circumstance was commission as part of a criminal association.
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For more detail, see section 3.1.12 on “signs of ownership”.
In addition, in traficking cases where “juju” was used, the victims often have speciic scarring on their bodies from the “juju” ritual. This appears in Anthony Harrison United
Kingdom
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where the victims had scars on particular parts of their bodies which corre- sponded to the scars arising from “juju” rituals.
The absence of “real evidence” when it would be expected Sometimes the lack of certain forms of “real evidence” when one would expect them to
appear, can contribute to prove traficking and allied crimes. For example, if in a brothel, there are no signs of condoms, it may mean that the women are not permitted to ask clients
to use them, thus contributing to prove their exploitation.
Sources of “real evidence”
The term “real evidence” is used to describe objects including people and animals submitted in evidence for the purpose of gathering impressions about their properties, rather than their content
which would be classiied as testimonial or documentary evidence. “Real evidence” can be an important source of evidence in traficking in persons cases.
“Real evidence” may assume many forms, including, but not limited to: • Photographs e.g. of a victim’s appearance, of a situation concerning the defendantvictim
or of the living or working conditions of the victim • Video-recordings e.g. of sexual exploitation
• Tools to hurt someone, such as electric shockers • Chains and locks which denote imprisonment
• Sex toys and condoms • Fingerprints, biological traces and traces of objects
• Marked money • Unexplained large amounts of cash
• Behaviour during testimony e.g. crying, confusion, lack of emotion, evasiveness • Appearance of witness e.g. tattoos which denote ownership of the perpetrator over
the victim