Spacey, Weinstein & Celebrity Sexual Assault Allegations: How Should the Media Behave?

Following several public allegations against US Actor Kevin Spacey, the public is in uproar about sexual assault being swept under the carpet, about celebrity reactions to accusations, about the lack of public support for victims, but also about the press’s forceful reporting of allegations as if proven fact.

When this happened to Weinstein, things went south very quickly. From a legal perspective, what are the rules surrounding sexual assault accusations? How should the media behave? How should the accused behave? Are fair trials heavily affected by the media?

Rob Conway, Director of Criminal Defence at Vardags, comments for Lawyer Monthly:

“The main rule governing the reporting of sexual assault allegations is the lifetime anonymity provided to victims under the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992. Anonymity applies from the moment the allegation is made and covers any reporting of subsequent court proceedings. It would be a criminal offence for any member of the media to breach anonymity even indirectly, for example, where the naming of others in the case would itself be likely to identify the victim.

“There is no such law in regard to the accused; however, police should not disclose the identity of the accused before he or she is charged with an offence unless it is deemed a necessary and proportionate step in the police investigation.

“The media must take special care to avoid inaccurate or misleading reporting or risk falling foul of the Contempt Laws. It is a contempt of court to publish anything which creates substantial risk that the course of justice will be seriously impeded or prejudiced. This would apply equally to online media reporting and to individual users of social media, and would apply from the moment that proceedings are “active”, which would be the point of initial arrest. Unfortunately, whilst the contempt laws are significant deterrence they are not preventative and adverse pre-trial reporting continues and especially in terms of online coverage.

“In terms of behaviour of the accused, they would need to be very careful in how they choose to respond and should seek legal advice before doing so. There is always a danger that what they say might be misconstrued or misinterpreted especially so when it is addressed to a media on the hunt for an attention-grabbing story.

Many wonder if trials are influenced by the media and if so, to what extent? There are extensive rules developed around ensuring a jury hear relevant and probative evidence as opposed to information that would be merely prejudicial and may affect the fairness of the proceedings. Additionally, jurors are directed in the strongest of terms to focus solely on the evidence they hear within the court room and to discard any other information from their deliberations. It is very difficult to know how and to what extent the influence of the media can penetrate these protections.”