The Court: Ringwood Magistrates Court
The Lawyer: Michelle Pavlica
The Charges:
The Allegations:
The client had a dispute with his ex-partner in relation to her getting into a new relationship with someone else. Police alleged the client cut up the complainant’s clothes and grabbed her phone from her to see who she had been talking to. Police also alleged that during the struggle to get the phone from the complainant, the client had slapped her across the face.
This matter took some time to come to court. By the time it did, the complainant had moved interstate, leaving her children to reside with the client. Importantly for the client, he had provided a no-comment interview when being questioned by police. This meant that the only evidence police had to rely on was from the complainant, who was now living interstate.
At Court:
Before the first hearing, our solicitor summary case conferenced the matter with the prosecution and told them it was a weak prosecution case due to lack of evidence. Police had not obtained any admissions from the client during the interview; the brief of evidence was inadequate and did not contain any photos of injuries allegedly sustained by the complainant. The complainant was also reluctant to give evidence.
Police initially disagreed with our position and continued to prosecute our client. We contested the charges, and the matter was adjourned for a contest mention.
The Outcome:
At the contest mention date, further discussions were had with prosecutors, during which our solicitor highlighted the lack of evidence to prove the charges against our client beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors agreed and proceeded to withdraw all charges.
