Published 08 Dec 2011
Traffic Lawyers Sydney and Parramatta Offices
Nyman Gibson Stewart
Criminal Lawyers
Burwood Local Court
Represented by Solicitor: Carol Younes
Facts: Client was prosecuted for driving his vehicle whilst under the influence of a drug namely cocaine. Our client was involved in a sole vehicle collision on the M5 motorway. Our client called the police to report the accident and the police attended the scene. Our client was not injured and during the course of questioning by police our client made an admission that he had some cocaine earlier that evening. The police placed our client under arrest and took him to the hospital where he was required to submit to a blood and urine sample to detect the presence of any drugs. The analysis came back positive and detected a number of illicit substances including cocaine. When the matter was first considered by Mr Miralis of our office our client was given firm advice to defend the charge. Ms Younes appeared on the hearing.
Result: Ms Younes ran a 2 day hearing and objected to the admissibility of evidence by the prosecution including the admission by our client and the certificate by the analyst. Further it was put to the court that the police abused their powers and caused an unlawful arrest. After a lengthy legal argument between the prosecution and the defences Her Honour reached a view that due to improprieties on behalf of the police the case was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt and the charge was dismissed. Our client never had to give evidence in the proceedings and it was simply a case where the prosecution had no prima facie case if the evidence of the analysis was excluded. This really meant our client avoided an automatic 12 month disqualification and a significant insurance debt.