Off To Court :(

[s13rb20pplater]

any news on this?

[ToMMaH]

Well the court date is next Tuesday. As of Wednesday the 29th police prosicutions haven't done the report/evicence/brief or whatever it was that I was supposed to be able to get a copy of two weeks before the court date. They never even replied to my lawyer when he sent off his own letter with everything we had. I'm hoping they just arn't bothering with it and when I get to court they arn't going to provide any evidence and it'll be thrown.

Edited October 31, 2008 by ToMMaH

[Nizzkid R32]

Unfortunately....I think this is the section you might actually be looking for in there...

6 Modifying vehicle

(1) A person must not—

(a) modify a vehicle chassis; or

(b) modify a vehicle, its parts or equipment in a way that

adversely affects the safety of the vehicle.

Maximum penalty—20 penalty units.

Dont let them argue this point.

Get in befor them, say the police may have you belive that i have made illegal mods, referecne Act (whatever).

Say it's a maintainence item, just as brake pads ware out, so do shims. It was a maintainence repair to keep the vehicle in good/safe working order.

[n0nac]

Dont let them argue this point.

Get in befor them, say the police may have you belive that i have made illegal mods, referecne Act (whatever).

Say it's a maintainence item, just as brake pads ware out, so do shims. It was a maintainence repair to keep the vehicle in good/safe working order.

i agree with this.... if they hammer you about the point that you changed the car from the way of factory as a modification you will be f**ked so to speak...

get on the band wagon, that the lsd was not working correctly previously and you/mechanic picked it up as apart of routien maintenance.... then the shims were woren out with further investigation and needed replacing as a maintainence and safety issue... then go along the lines of that they are new, still need running in, and dont just "run in" within a matter of days/weeks.

if you hammer them with that straight up you should be able to get off... even if they try to say its a modification, just say they were replaced with what you believed to be standard replacement shims.

[Juz]

i agree with this.... if they hammer you about the point that you changed the car from the way of factory as a modification you will be f**ked so to speak...

get on the band wagon, that the lsd was not working correctly previously and you/mechanic picked it up as apart of routien maintenance.... then the shims were woren out with further investigation and needed replacing as a maintainence and safety issue... then go along the lines of that they are new, still need running in, and dont just "run in" within a matter of days/weeks.

if you hammer them with that straight up you should be able to get off... even if they try to say its a modification, just say they were replaced with what you believed to be standard replacement shims.

+1

[Trapper]

that approch sounds best but don't forget guys he is there to argue a locked diff defect charge so the majistrate has to take that into account. The face he replaced stuff will help his case but becuase the original chage was for a locked diff he is innocent

[ToMMaH]

Well the police brief still hasn't been done so theres no way they can proceed with it tomorrow. I don't even have to go down to the court, my lawyer is going so I've atleast got a day off. Either the court date will be postponed, police prosicutions will not want to take it any further or the magistrate will throw it out.

Good ole waste of time and tax payers money.

Edited November 3, 2008 by ToMMaH

[murrayis]

Good Luck Anyway

[ToMMaH]

Postponed till the 25th of November

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

don't stress too much.. they are always like this.. lazy f**ks.. its cause your case isnt serious in their books.. and yes if you try to get copies of something they don't wish to give out... they make it hard.. i tried to get copies of statements that i had made and they refused to give them up.. even with letters written from my lawyer.. which is illegal.. the system unfortunately doesnt work.. if you can provide evidence enough that you are innocent then you stand a chance.. although the system decides in the end.. so be nice to the magistrate.. dress nice.. don't portray yourself as a hoon in anyway possible (look like the model citizen, not a youth) and the magistrate will look at you in a different light.. i wore full suits to court even tho everyone else wore normal clothes...

and another thing to remember.. these prosecutors are not queens court.. they arent too hard to shut down.. try embarrassing him or showing that he doesnt have correct facts (if he doesnt)... shows the magistrate that they are just trying to get you for something that you havent done...

i'm sure you have all the info you need at the moment.. these are just things i've picked up to help boost your case.. and i dont think they should be difficult for you as you are in fact innocent.. but also as i stated.. the system gets to decide..

[ToMMaH]

Hmmmm. Someone who may or may not want to be named went to court today for a major defect, plead guilty and walked away with only a $75 fine.... :S I'd have just taken that if I'd have known they were letting people off that easy and without points.

[Doze]

Hmmmm. Someone who may or may not want to be named went to court today for a major defect, plead guilty and walked away with only a $75 fine.... :S I'd have just taken that if I'd have known they were letting people off that easy and without points.

meh... take up the fight, then sue for loss of wages for having days off and the inconvience and stress for having a legal diff in the 1st place..

[DECIM8]

I dont know if this is solved however..

The officer cannot issue such a defect with no visable evidence. Same reason if they cant see a BOV yet can hear it they cannot issue a defect. This is NSW law I assume it applies for QLD the officer in question has made an assumption and unless hes superman with x ray vision has no leg to stand on.

Get details your diff is stock, shims have been replaced. Hell take it off and take it in and point and scream.. You cant lose hes made an assumption on a sound not visual inspection.

Although technically you lost traction which could amount to loss of vehicle. Unfortunately for him he missed such an easy sting.

Edited November 5, 2008 by DECIM8

[Lady G]

Wear a sexy tight business skirt and a low cut top and pray to god it's not a female judge hahahaa.

I got the cheapest possible fine but still automatic loss of licence for 6 months.

But in all seriousness just make sure you say you are sorry and that it wont happen again.

[Doze]

But in all seriousness just make sure you say you are sorry and that it wont happen again.

or tell them the truth that it's no a locked diff....

See if you can get it in writing of a not guilty from the Judge about it not being locked and hand it over with your licence next time you get pulled over...

[MR33SOM]

soo.. couple more days left untill court date, have you heard anything more about what they are going to try argue?

good luck mate!

keep us updated!

[ToMMaH]

Well as of yesterday the police brief still hasn't been done...

Even if it's done Monday we could go in and get it postponed again on the basis that we haven't had enough time for it. But I'm so tired of this I just want it over with one way or the other.

[PWND]

just keep attending. eventually it will get thrown out.

the court will have to reimburse you for missed days of work, and hopefully legal representation as well.

[ToMMaH]

Ok, so the police brief still isn't done. Apparently tomorrow actually isn't set down to be the trial it's just.... well I actually have no clue what tomorrow is supposed to be now and police prosicutions couldn't tell us when we were talking to them on the phone. I also HAVE to be there tomorrow even though it's not a trial and normally I should have been able to just have my lawyer go in for me. Once again I have no idea what the deal is with that.

So I guess it's probably not going to be dealt with finally tomorrow after all

[Revhead]

I don't know how these things work, but maybe they're just trying to wear you down so you'll enter a guilty plea just to stop the repeated inconvenience. Another way to look at it is that it might be a good sign that they can't actually find any way to justify the charge - in other words, they're either buying time while they dig for more evidence/loopholes/whatever or, as mentioned, are trying to wear you down so you'll just bend over and take it and they don't have to prove anything.

Is there any way legally that your lawyer or the judge can demand that they have until x date to gather their evidence and/or present their case? Surely if they can't type up a brief in then 4+ months they've already had, they obviously either don't have much of a case, or they don't rate it very highly.