It took 1 year, 3 months and 12 days,
Involved 1 committal proceeding, 2 bail applications, 1 sentence and 1 appeal to the District Court,
But last week, my client walked out of Court and went home.
He started with 18 charges carrying penalties of up to 20 years imprisonment and ended with a community-based order.
Advice that mattered,
- We set objectives early on.
- He considered, “What outcomes do I want?” and “What are my priorities?”, then we planned to meet them.
- First Bail Application:
- Early and successful bail application. Thorough planning and preparation for the bail application was essential to my success.
- Successful committal proceeding negotiations with the Crown to reduce the number and range of charges, and agree appropriate facts.
- We set objectives early so we knew what needed to be prioritised during the negotiations.
- Local Court Sentence.
- We succeeded in keeping the charges in the Local Court but sentences in the Local Court are very unpredictable.
- Despite thorough preparation and worthy submissions, my client was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 20 months.
- The Notice of Appeal had been prepared before the Local Court Sentence and was filed within minutes of the sentence being passed.
- Second Bail Application:
- A further successful bail application was made pending the determination of the appeal.
- On Appeal to the District Court,
- The Judge had no hesitation reducing the sentence to an order to be served in the community (Intensive Corrections Order).
My client accepted the advice that I gave him, acted on that advice, which allowed me to my job and get him the right result.
Jeremy L. McGrath – Principal Solicitor