The Court: Frankston Magistrates Court
The Lawyer: Alex Miglietti
The Charges:
The Allegations:
The client had two friends. Friend A and Friend B. Friend B had started seeing Friend A’s girlfriend, and Friend A became upset upon learning this. Friend A tried to track Friend B’s car. Friend A eventually found Friend B and his girlfriend and began to pursue him by car.
Our client was called in to assist Friend A. He agreed, intending to calm the situation down. Friend B was now being pursued by both Friend A and our client in the same car. Eventually, Friend A caught up with Friend B.
He cut across Friend B in traffic, forcing him to stop, and produced some knuckledusters. He repeated this once Friend B had parked his vehicle, and an assault ensued. Friend B suffered a serious injury. Our client was charged as a co-accused on the basis that he was acting in concert with Friend A or potentially aiding and abetting.
At Court:
Just because someone is present and does not intervene does not make that person guilty. The prosecution must establish that the defendant has either assisted or encouraged the main offender in some way. If this cannot be done, then they must withdraw the charges.
So the prosecution’s challenge was that they needed to establish that our client had either:
- Agreed to assist in tracking down Friend B to assault him; or
- He became involved and then assisted Friend A in attacking Friend B.
Friend A made a ‘no comment’ interview (replied ‘no comment’ to every question he was asked), and our client conducted a comment interview. Fortunately for our client, he did not make clear admissions to assisting or agreeing to assist. However, given that he had driven Friend A for a period and Friend A had knuckledusters in his hand, he still had some issues concerning the charges.
After lengthy negotiations with the prosecution, it was agreed that the matter could be resolved on the basis that the client pleaded guilty to a charge of Careless Driving.
The Outcome:
The summary was heavily amended to remove any reference to the more serious charges. Following submissions by our solicitor, the client received a minor fine of $400. The Magistrate did not make any order on the client’s driver’s licence. The outcome was excellent for the client.
