The Court: County Court of Victoria
The Lawyer: David Dribbin
The Charges:
The Allegations:
The client was a 40-year-old male who was charged with several serious sexual offences, including Rape and Sexual Penetration of a Child under 16. There were two female complainants, aged 13 and 14, who made the allegations.
The client was charged with three offences of Rape, three Sexual Penetration of a Child charges and two Sexual Assault charges.
At Court:
Once our client was charged with the offences, he provided instructions to contest the charges. Following several preliminary hearings, the matter was booked in for a two-week trial at the County Court of Victoria.
Following submissions by defence at the start of a two week trial, all three of the rape charges were withdrawn. This meant the jury was unable to consider much of the evidence. The trial proceeded on the remaining five charges (three sexual penetration and two of sexual assault).
The defence case was that the two complainants had colluded and were lying. Pre-trial enquiries revealed the criminal records of some prosecution witnesses, as well as phone records and other materials that suggested collusion. This allowed us to attack the credibility of the complainants. The phone records contradicted what the witnesses had said whilst giving evidence. They made it clear that both complainants had spoken to each other on numerous occasions, despite their assertions that they had not. The criminal record check revealed prior matters about armed robbery.
Defence was able to expose inconsistencies in the complainant’s accounts and those of witnesses to the jury.
The Outcome:
Following lengthy cross-examination and the closing of the case, the jury retired and, within a day of deliberations, returned verdicts of not guilty on all charges. Our client was acquitted on all charges.
The client had been looking at a significant time in prison if found guilty of the offences, but through a combination of detailed preparation and engaging legal counsel with decades of experience running jury sex trials, a not-guilty outcome was achieved.
