The Court: Geelong Magistrates Court
The Lawyer: Ryan Robertson
The Charges:
The Allegations:
Our client was a 55-year-old male. The offences for which he was charged involved physically assaulting his wife, specifically, hitting her in the head with a wine bottle and causing a laceration to her head.
Our client was arrested and interviewed concerning the incident. He gave a ‘no comment’ interview. The police charged him based on the evidence available, which included pictures of the victim’s injuries, her statement to the police and the statements from witnesses to the incident.
Our client had no history of prior criminal behaviour. He had just started a new job that required a security clearance, and a criminal conviction would be detrimental to his employment, as he would likely be unable to retain the job with a criminal record. This effectively left him with two options: either to contest the charges or to obtain a diversion recommendation.
After the incident, our client’s wife indicated to police that she had forgiven our client and had provided a statement of no complaint. They had reconciled, and she did not wish for the matter to proceed any further. However, it was too late to withdraw, and her statement of no complaint had no bearing on whether the matter would proceed.
At Court:
Importantly, our client attended an appointment at our Geelong office and engaged one of our solicitors before the scheduled court date. This allowed our solicitor to engage in lengthy and meaningful negotiations before court.
It is very difficult in the current climate to convince police prosecutors to recommend a Diversion in respect of family violence, particularly in circumstances where injury is alleged.
Our solicitor sought to negotiate the client’s charges with the police prosecution and put to them the fact that, despite investigating a serious allegation, they were stepping in the way of a family relationship that neither party wanted.
Our solicitor requested that the prosecution conduct a Family Violence Risk Assessment and consider the matter further following the tendering of supporting material. Following the Risk Assessment and a discussion with the Family Violence Liason Officer, the prosecution was eventually convinced to recommend the matter for Diversion.
The Outcome:
Once the Diversion Notice was filed, the matter went to court. A similar argument was put to the Magistrate, and the Diversion was granted with the condition that our client be of good behaviour for a period of 12 months.
This was an outstanding result for our client as his situation had changed dramatically following professional and strong negotiations with the police prosecutor. Our client initially thought that his options were limited, given his charges. If we had not successfully argued that Diversion was appropriate, our client would have expected to receive a criminal conviction. Instead, he walked out of court with no record whatsoever. He was very fortunate to have chosen the right law firm and engaged us early, which enabled him to achieve the best possible outcome.
