The Court: Melbourne Magistrates Court
The Lawyer: Kieran Burke
The Charges:
The Allegations:
Our client was a 47-year-old male at the time of the offence. He was charged with the Rape and Sexual Assault of an 18-year-old boarder who was living with him at the time. The boarder stated she left the property as a result of the rape.
Our client was arrested and interviewed, where, following advice, he agreed to participate and answer the questions that the police asked of him. Our client denied having ever touched the complainant in any way without her consent and never in a sexual manner. He provided a concise explanation for why the complainant left his property.
The police informant based their charges on statements from the complainant and witnesses, to whom the complainant had disclosed the conduct. Nobody other than our client and the complainant was in the room at the time the alleged conduct occurred.
Our client’s goal was to fight the charges in court successfully. Contesting charges such as these is a lengthy and arduous process, involving numerous court appearances and in-depth preparation and analysis by legal representatives.
Court Procedure in Indictable Matters:
The courts in Victoria have various jurisdictional limits in relation to what sort of crimes they can hear and determine. All charges begin in the Magistrates’ Court. If they are too serious to be determined summarily, they are escalated to either the County Court or the Supreme Court of Victoria. In such instances, the first court hearing is referred to as a filing hearing.
The filing hearing is an administrative court date at which the court sets a timeline for how the matter is to proceed. Specifically, when the committal mention is to take place and when the brief of evidence is to be provided to our client and his solicitors.
Once the brief of evidence is served, prosecution and defence must update the court at a committal mention on how the matter is to proceed. This will include how our client pleads and whether witnesses will be required to give evidence before our client is asked to stand trial.
At Court:
Given our client’s instructions, our solicitor indicated to the court that the matter was being contested, and we filed a ‘Form 32’. This document outlines our application to cross-examine witnesses, including the complainant. We also requested all the pre-trial disclosures associated with the investigation. This material is always very important and often reveals important information relevant to the cross-examination of the witnesses.
The Outcome:
Following our filing of the document with the prosecution, they advised that they would be withdrawing all charges against our client at the next court date. Shortly thereafter, they notified the court, and all charges against our client were dismissed.
This was obviously a fantastic result for our client, as the whole committal and trial process was avoided. Our client initially thought that his options were limited given his charges, and he was grateful that we were able to secure him the opportunity of avoiding such a long and stressful process.
It is important to note that by our client following pre-interview advice, participating in an interview with the police and denying the offences, the prosecution had his version of events to compare with that of the victim. It also meant that our client would not need to provide viva voce evidence if the matter had proceeded to trial. There is a possibility that if our client had provided a “no comment” interview to the police, they would not have withdrawn the charges at such an early stage. This highlights the importance of engaging experienced sex offence lawyers at an early stage.
What should be remembered about this case study is that every case is different. Some clients should provide a version of events, while others absolutely should not. What you should do is a question that can only be answered once you have told your story to an experienced criminal lawyer.
