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RESULTS

Recklessly Cause Injury / Withdrawn

May 4, 2023

Case: Argument between sisters leads to police charges.

Our client was charged following an argument with her sister about cheating with her ex-partner. This led to a situation with pushing and shoving and an allegation of choking. Our client made admissions in relation to the incident.

Charges/ Ch1(recklessly cause injury), Ch2(Unlawful Assault)

Result/ All charges withdrawn

Our lawyer argued that our client’s admission was inadmissible due to it being procured by a Victoria Police trial of using body worn camera recordings of a complainant’s interview. Our lawyer found out that to be admissible, the recording needed to have been backed up by a written statement by the complainant. In this case the complainant was unwilling to make a statement against her sister. Without our client’s admissions, police agreed to withdraw all charges.

ATO Fraud, Commercial Trafficking Withdrawn / Community Corrections Order Without Conviction

April 28, 2023

Case: ATO fraud leads to commercial trafficking charges.

Our client’s house was raided. He lived with 4 other people. Police were looking for documents relating to false GST returns and found a small amount of drugs in his room and a commercial amount of drugs in the garage.

Charges/ Ch1, 2, 17, 22 (Recklessly deal with proceeds of crime); Ch3 (Traffick commercial quantity of drugs); Ch4 (traffic drug of dependence); Ch5, 6, 7 (Possess drug of dependence); Ch8, 11, 20, 25 (Negligently deal with proceeds of crime); Ch9,, 13, 18, 23 (Obtaining property by deception); Ch10, 14, 15, 16, 19, 24 (Knowingly deal with proceeds of crime); Ch12, 21, 26 (Deal with property suspected to be proceeds of crime)

Result/ Withdrawn: Charge 3 (commercial trafficking), 5, 7 (possess drugs) ; Ch1, 2, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 (Proceeds of Crime)

Plea Guilty: Ch4 (trafficking by weight); Ch6 (possess methamphetamine): Community Corrections Order, 12 Months, without conviction

Our lawyer negotiated to resolve the matter principally on trafficking simpliciter on the basis that there was no evidence of actual trafficking; and the Methampetamine found in our client’s room. At our client’s plea it was argued that our client was a first time offender and a conviction would affect his ability to travel and work.

Unlawful Assault / Acquitted At Contested Hearing

April 15, 2023

Case: road rage allegation – Client acquitted at contested hearing.

Our client was victim of a truck driver who dangerously pushed our client into oncoming traffic by failing to give way. Our client deployed his horn and flashed his lights at the truck driver. Further up the road the lights turned red and all traffic stopped. The truck driver got out of his truck and approached our client with a metal bar. On seeing this our client who is 6 foot and big build and got out of his car. The truck driver took one look at our client and retreated with our client yelling that he will report the truck driver to his employer. The truck driver later attended police with a ripped shirt and alleged our client attempted to hit him while seated in the front of his vehicle.

Charges/ Ch1 (Unlawful Assault)

Result/ Acquitted at Contested Hearing, costs awarded against police.

Our lawyer placed the police on notice that their case was weak, that the truck driver had a motive to lie, had a criminal history for violence offences and that he was the aggressor. Despite the issues of credibility, the prosecution refused to withdraw the charges on the basis that our client would not seek costs against them. Our lawyer gathered further evidence on the height of the truck window to raise an impossibility defence which established that our client, even at 6 foot tall, could not have punched the truck driver nor rip his shirt. The magistrate agreed with our arguments, believed our client’s evidence in the witness box and acquitted him. This case is an example of how police will often defend aggressors and vigilantes over victims of crime. They do so at expense of the tax payer who foots the bill for paying the legal costs for weak police cases and underserving complainants attempting to use the criminal justice system for an ulterior purpose.

Trafficking Large Commercial Quantity Of Drug Of Dependence / Bail Granted

April 6, 2023

Case: Bail granted for Middle Aged man charged with trafficking large commercial quantity of drugs & firearms.

Our client’s house was raided and large commercial quantity of drugs was allegedly found along with two loaded hand guns and a shotgun. This quantity makes bail unlikely given the almost certain prospects of a term of imprisonment if found guilty. Client had to show exceptional circumstances why bail should be granted.

Charges/ Ch1 (trafficking of a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine); Ch2 (trafficking of a large commercial quantity of heroin); Ch3 (trafficking of a large commercial quantity of 1,4B); Ch4 (Prohibited person possess firearm x3); Ch5 (trafficking firearms); Ch6 (Knowingly deal with proceeds of crime being an unknown amount of cash)

Result/ Bail Granted – exceptional circumstances found

Our lawyer advised client that his prospects of a successful bail application would depend on the risk of further offending being mitigated along with addressing possible flight risks due to extraneous identity documents also being located at the residence of our client. Our client allowed our office to make a referral to our list of preferred treatment providers which included a luxurious private residential rehabilitation facility. Kings Counsel was engaged to appear on behalf of our client in a well prepared bail application and was able to succesfully convince a Magistrate that exceptional circumstances had been met & that the unacceptable risk which our client posed could be ameliorated by the conditions proposed by our legal team. 

Reckless Conduct Endangering Life / Jail Avoided

April 6, 2023

Case: taking the law into your own hands. Vigilante Accused of Ramming Truck Into vehicle of offender harassing his female partner.

Our client received a call from his partner who was frantic as she explained that a known offender was chasing her vehicle and she was unable to get away despite having contacted police. It was alleged that our client drove a truck in a reckless manner rushing to the aid of his partner and had located them and smashed his truck into the known offenders vehicle. It was further alleged that our client had armed himself with a pole and had emerged from his truck striking the the known offender who had to emerge from the passenger side due to the extensive damage to the vehicle he was in.

Charges/ Ch1 (Reckless Conduct Endangering Life); Ch2 (Reckless Conduct Endangering Serious Injury); Ch3 (dangerous driving); Ch4 (Careless driving), Charge 5 (Unlawful Assault Using A 4.5 Tonne Truck And Metal Pole); Ch6 (Unlawful assault)

Result/ Withdrawn: Ch1, 2, 3, 5, 6 

Plea Guilty: Ch4: $800 fine without conviction, no interference with licence

Our client contacted one of our lawyers immediately after the incident and accordingly declined an interview with police as it was intended for him to be interviewed as a suspect and not a witness. He was later charged with 6 offences however police failed to investigate the harassment of the known offender and our lawyer managed to apply the necessary pressure on the police Informant and police prosecutors raising the failure of the police Informant to properly investigate the circumstances of the incident. Our lawyer obtained the 000 call which our client’s partner made and ensured that the police Informant conducted further investigation which lead to the known assailant also being charged. 

Driving Whilst Disqualified / Withdrawn

April 5, 2023

Case: Court heard the matter in absence of our client and failed to provide notice to accused lead to Withdrawal of Charge.

Our client had contested an infringement notice for exceeding the speed limit and was self-representing himself. Unfortunately he had the Court dates mixed up and had missed a Court date. The Court proceeded to hear his matter in his absence and disqualified him from driving for 3 months. No advice or notice with respect to the licence disqualification was communicated by the Court and our client was subsequently intercepted driving whilst disqualified.

Charges/ Ch1 (driving whilst disqualified)

Result/ charge withdrawn

The charge required that police prove our client had been aware of the suspension. However our lawyer submitted that our client had not been provided with any information with regard to the Court hearing his matter in his absence and therefore was unaware of the licence disqualification. Prosecution agreed to withdraw the charge as the defence of honest & reasonable mistake could not be refuted as the notice of order from the Court hearing the previous matter confirmed that there was no appearance from our client and there was no evidence that the Court had ever sent our client the result of the case which was heard in his absence.

Drug Trafficking / Adjourned undertaking (good behaviour bond) with conviction (Jail Avoided)

April 5, 2023

Case: Good behaviour bond for drug trafficking & proceeds of crime charges following statewide investigation into trafficking cannabis.

Our client’s house was raided following AusPost intercepting an express post parcel containing 112 grams of Cannabis which was surrendered to Queensland Police for further investigation. Forensic analysis conducted revealed 5 fingerprints belonging to our client. Search warrants were conducted at our client’s residential premises and police located over 5 kilograms of dried cannabis, 15 grams of amphetamine & $106,25.00 in cash including sophisticated hydroponic equipment. Our client was not cooperative and made a no comment interview. Our client was on bail for other matters at the time and was released on strict bail conditions following a successful application for bail by our defence solicitor. 

Charges/ Ch1 (drug trafficking); Ch2, 4, 5, 6 (drug possession); Ch3 (drug use); Ch7, 8, 9 (Deal with property suspected to be proceeds of crime); Ch10 (possess proceeds of crime).

Result/ Ch1, 3, 9: withdrawn;  Ch2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: Good Behaviour Bond with Conviction & Fine of $1,700

Our lawyer negotiated with police to drop the most serious drug trafficking charges as the selling was not protracted and there was a lack of evidence in the prosecution case. Our client would have certainly been jailed if the charges were not succesfully negotiated. Our client complied with strict conditions of bail and was able to present the necessary plea material to convince a Magistrate that a $1,700 fine with conviction in addition to a 12 month good behaviour bond was appropriate. Our client was aged in his early twenty’s with an extensive criminal history.

Dangerous Driving Causing Serious Injury / Jail Avoided

March 6, 2023

Case:  Jail Avoided from serious accident Riding motorbike without helmets.

Our client caught up with friends drinking just after the Covid-19 lockdowns. He and his partner got on a motorbike without helmets and along the ride lost control of the motorbike. Both our client and his partner sustained serious injuries.

Charges/ Ch1 (Negligently cause serious injury); Ch2 (dangerous driving causing serious injury); Ch3 (dangerous driving); Ch4, 5 (drink driving); Ch6 (riding a motorbike without a helmet)

Result/ Ch1, 3, 4: withdrawn; Plea Guilty Ch2, 5, 6

Our client was at risk of jail and our lawyer negotiated that the most serious charge (charge 1) not be proceeded with. Our client compiled good character references and a psych report that showed that he had PTSD and lives constantly with the guilty of nearly killing his partner. He had no prior history for speeding or drink driving. The prosecutor and defence both recommended a Community Corrections Order and the Magistrate agreed.

Unlawful Assault / Withdrawn

February 20, 2023

Case: Escaping conviction for cultivating cannabis.

Our client rented a house as a party house and later allowed it to be used for another person to cultivate cannabis. Police found no cannabis at our client’s home but seized $20,000 suspected to be proceeds of crime.

Charges/ Ch1 (Cultivate Cannabis); Ch2 (Theft of Electricity); Ch3 (Negligently Deal with Proceeds of Criminal); Ch4 (Deal with property suspected to be proceeds of crime); Ch5 (possess Cannabis)

Result/ withdrawn: Ch2, 3, 5; Plea Ch1, 4 (reduced sum): Fine without Conviction 

Our client was adamant that he was not responsible for the cannabis cultivation although he was aware of the activity in the house. The money seized at his house was from a loan and we obtained a defence witness letter from the lender. We negotiated with the Office of Public Prosecutions to amend the summary that acknowledged that our client had a minimal role in the cultivation and that he had an explanation as to at least $18,000 of the cash seized. Given the minimal role and lack of prior criminal history, the Judge took a lenient approach to sentencing. The client will also have his $18,000 returned to him.

Recklessly Cause Injury / Withdrawn

February 15, 2023

Case: Charges withdrawn Incident with Ex Father-In-Law.

Our client was in a relationship with girl from a different ethnic community. Her father did not like the relationship and forbid her from seeing our client. He would also send abusive text messages to our client’s mother. An incident occurred where the father asked our client over to their house. His mum gave him a lift in her car and waited outside. An incident occurred where the father alleges our client punched him in the shoulder causing a fracture, however our client’s mother heard the commotion and saw the father wrestling her son on the floor pulling his hair. Our client attended the police station and they charged him rather than the father.

Charges/ Ch1 (Recklessly Cause Injury); Ch2 (Unlawful Assault); Ch3 (Common Law Assault)

Result/ All charges withdrawn

Our lawyer argued that the punch to the shoulder (which was denied) could not have caused the injury alleged. We obtained the threatening text messages from our client’s mother, as well as a defence witness statement from her as to what she saw. The prosecutor offered to withdraw the charges. This case is an example of the disturbing way police conduct themselves in charging victims of an assault as the perpetrator and allowing perpetrators to go unpunished. 

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