[bullet_block large_icon=”8.png” width=”” alignment=”center” font_size=”18″ font_font=”Oswald” font_style=”bold” font_color=”#008f03″ font_spacing=”4″ font_shadow=”none”]

  • 1. Preparing for first Court mention
  • 2. What to do when you get to Court
  • 3. Entering a plea
  • 4. Managing the Police Facts Sheet
  • 5. Seeking an adjournment
  • 6. Documents to obtain
  • 7. Important details to record

[/bullet_block]

STEP 3: ATTENDING FIRST COURT MENTION & OBTAINING ADJOURNMENT

[bullet_block large_icon=”39.png” width=”” alignment=”center” font_size=”20″ font_font=”Oswald” font_color=”#057500″ font_spacing=”4″ font_shadow=”none”]

  • Preparing for first Court mention

[/bullet_block]

When you receive the Court Attendance Notice (C.A.N.) by Police at the time of charge the first thing you should do is make sure that either you or a legal representative acting on your behalf is in attendance to make an appearance on your matter. You cannot have a friend or a parent turn up on your behalf it MUST either be you or a lawyer. If you or your lawyer fails to turn up and enter an appearance on your matter then the Magistrate will either deal with your matter in your absence, adjourn your matter until another date for sentence or in the worst case scenario issue a bench warrant for your arrest.

It is a good idea to log the time, date and location down in a diary, put a note on your home fridge and/or tell a close relative or friend to remind you of your upcoming Court date.

Charge Documents

Prior to your Court date you need to first collate all of the information and documents that you have been provided by the Police at the time your were charged. This will normally include the following:

  • Court Attendance Notice (C.A.N.)

This document will indicate the time, date and location in which you need to attend Court on your first mention. It will also outline the charge/s that police have laid on you which will include the charge name and the section of the specific legislation in which the Police are basing their charge on.

  • Police Facts Sheet

The Police Facts Sheet will list some your basic personal details and then it will go into some detail about how you came to the attention of Police, how they suspected you may have been drinking, details of the breath or blood analysis procedure and any other issues that the Police deem necessary in upholding the charge in Court.

  • Section 33 Breath/Blood Analysis Certificate

This is a formal Certificate, which the Police are obligated to provide to you that details the results of your blood alcohol reading following a breath or blood analysis.

  • Custody Management Report

This is a document, which provides you with details of the way in which the Police managed you whilst you were in their custody following your arrest. Generally, this is a pretty stock standard type of document however it will provide observations of the Police of how you conducted yourself whilst you were under their care. If you were rude and uncooperative then this will more than likely be detailed in this report. This report is not always provided to the person who is charge, it really depends on when you were taken back to the Police station and locked up.

  • Traffic History

Usually the Police will not provide you with a copy of your traffic history at the time of arrest, however it is very important that you obtain a copy of this from the Police Prosecutor at your first Court appearance. If you are eager to get a copy of your traffic history before you attend Court then you can go into your local Road Transport Authority (RTA) and purchase a copy over the counter. Alternatively, you can also purchase a copy online by visiting the following website – https://myrta.com/clenq/menu.do

Upon reading over the above documents that you may have been provided at the time of your arrest you should now be familiar with what you have been charged with and what the Police allege you have done to cause you to be charged.

It would be prudent for you to do some of your own research in addition to carefully reading through this NSW DUI Court Manual.

Attire/Dress

Prior to attending Court you should know exactly what you are going to wear and this goes for every time you attend Court and have to appear in front of a Magistrate. It is definitely better to be over dressed rather than underdressed.

  • For Men – if you have a suit, shirt and tie then you should make sure it is clean and pressed. If you do not have a suit then you should make sure that you wear long pants (preferably suit pants or slacks but not jeans), a long sleeve shirt with a tie, also wear dark coloured shoes (preferably black leather or similar but not light colour running shoes, sandals or thongs).
  • For Women – if you have a women’s office style suit then you should wear this with dark coloured leather shoes or similar. If you do not have an office style suit then you should consider wearing a dress or an outfit, which is as conservative as possible. Try to wear an outfit that has darker or neutral colours and try to avoid an outfit that is just going to make you stand out. Remember it is not a fashion competition, rather you are trying to exude a certain level of respect to the Court by dressing in a manner with is conservative yet formal.

First impressions are important and what you decide to wear will immediately show to the Magistrate whether or not you are taking your matter seriously. It also shows an element of respect towards the Court. If you do not have any appropriate attire as described above then you should consider borrowing from a friend or relative or even hiring or buying a more formal outfit.

Attitude

Regardless of what happened at the time of the offence you need to take a step back and make sure that you are clear headed and have the right attitude before you go to Court. The thing with “Authority” whether it be the Police, the Military or the Judicial System, they are demand respect and the right attitude.

If you have found yourself on the wrong side of the law and you intend on pleading Guilty for the offence then you need to think long and hard about why you have come to be in that position.

The last thing you want to do is go to Court with an “I hate cops” or “I hate the authority” type of mentality. This type of attitude will become very apparent to the Magistrate very quickly if you are not in the right frame of mind and do not have the right attitude.

You need to understand that you are responsible for being in the position that you are in and therefore should not be blaming others. The Courts are more likely to take what you have to say far more seriously if you can show that you are REMORSEFUL for the incident that occurred, that you are RESPECTFUL to the justice system and understand its role within our society (i.e. to uphold laws and protect the community at large) and that you appear HONEST in making sure that you do not wish to reoffend for such a matter.

The Court expects you to take responsibility for your own actions and whilst they are not particularly interested in listening to self-serving excuses for your offending behaviour they will be more likely to listen to certain reasons or mitigating circumstances as to how you came to be involved in the incident if you are able to show that you are REMORSEFUL, RESPECTFUL and HONEST.

At the end of the day you need to understand that from the minute you enter that Court room you will be judged and the only thing that you can do to help yourself in this regard is by having the right attitude, dressing appropriately and by having a basic understanding about the law and the Court process. This is a very important first step that you should undertake before you actually attend Court.

Unable to attend first Court mention

If you seriously cannot appear on the day of your Court hearing then you should have a very good reason for being unable to attend. It is highly advised that if you know in advanced that you will not be able to make the Court appearance then you should contact a lawyer to attend for you. Alternatively, if you cannot afford the services of a lawyer then you should write a detailed letter to the Court Registry of the Court you are required to appear in.

Your letter should set out the specific reason why you are unable to attend. Just by writing a letter does not mean that the Magistrate will not deal with your matter on the day and issue you with a sentence, however, should your reasons be serious and sincere enough then the Magistrate will more than likely adjourn your matter to another date and set it down for sentence.

[bullet_block large_icon=”40.png” width=”” alignment=”center” font_size=”20″ font_font=”Oswald” font_color=”#057500″ font_spacing=”4″ font_shadow=”none”]

  • What to do when you get to Court

[/bullet_block]

When you arrive at the Local Court on the day of your first Court mention you should arrive at least 15 minutes early and check that your name is listed along with all of the other matters for that day on the Courts listing. Most Courts have daily print outs of all of the matters listed for that day and they are usually posted up on a board in the foyer of the Court house or just outside of the actual Courtroom.

Some, but not all, Courts will also have a Court clerk stationed within the Court house foyer who you can approach and tell them your name and what you intend to do with your matter once it comes on before the Magistrate. You will need to inform then that you are pleading Guilty, Not Guilty or wish to adjourn your matter.

The Court clerk may then inform you which Courtroom you need to go to. Alternatively, if there is no Court clerk there then the Court listing should indicate which Courtroom you need to appear in.

Once the Courtroom is opened to the public you should go into the Court and take a seat in the public gallery section which provides seating at the back of the Courtroom. You will need to sit there until your matter is called by the Magistrate.

You need to understand that matters where lawyers appear will be heard first and you need to be prepared to wait around for some time until the represented matters are finalized. But rests assure that your matter will be called eventually so long as it is listed on the Court list.

All Courts have a different layout to one another so it is a good idea to get to Court early so that you can familiarize yourself with the Court house, the Court lists and which Courtroom you need to attend. Some Court houses are very large in size and have many Courtrooms however many regional or suburban Court houses are smaller and often just have the one Courtroom.

Some of the larger Court houses have what are known as “Call-over Courts” which are basically smaller Courtrooms set up for the purpose of dealing with case management. Call-over Courts are often run by a Registrar of the Court and generally deal with matters which are the first time in the Courts list. Appearing at the Call-over Court is more informal than appearing in one of the larger Courtrooms before a Magistrate.

If an issue arises in the Call-over Court that the Registrar decides should be determined by a Magistrate then they will often send the matter into one of the other Courts where a Magistrate is present.

[bullet_block large_icon=”41.png” width=”” alignment=”center” font_size=”20″ font_font=”Oswald” font_color=”#057500″ font_spacing=”4″ font_shadow=”none”]

  • Entering a plea

[/bullet_block]

Written Notice of Pleading

In certain circumstances where you have NOT signed a “Bail Agreement” to appear in Court then you can fill out a form called a “Written Notice of Pleading” in which you can indicate to the Court whether you are pleading Guilty or Not Guilty. If you decide to plead Guilty to the offence then you have the opportunity to attach any supporting documentation to the form, which may include a statement, character references, medical certificates and have the matter dealt with in your absence.

The form will need to be signed in front of a Justice of the Peace and submitted back to court at least seven (7) days before the scheduled date of hearing shown on the C.A.N.

Also, you will need to indicate on the form that you will represent yourself at the court hearing, so that the notification of the new hearing date is sent only to you.

[images style=”0″ image=”http://nswduicourtbible.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/written-plea-1.png” width=”320″ align=”center” top_margin=”0″ full_width=”Y”]

[images style=”0″ image=”http://nswduicourtbible.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/written-plea-2.png” width=”318″ align=”center” top_margin=”0″ full_width=”Y”]

Example copy of the form required to be filled out and filed to the Court Registry 7 days prior to your Court Attendance.

The relevant law that deals with “written pleas” is Section 182 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 which states:

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT 1986 – SECT 182

182 Written pleas

“(1) An accused person served with a court attendance notice may lodge with the registrar a notice in writing that the accused person will plead guilty or not guilty to the offence or offences the subject of the court attendance notice concerned.

(2) The notice is to be in the form prescribed by the rules and, in the case of a guilty plea, may be accompanied by additional written material containing matters in mitigation of the offence.

(3) An accused person who lodges a notice under this section with the registrar not later than 7 days before the date on which the person is required to first attend before the Local Court:

(a) is not required to attend the Court on that date, and

(b) is taken to have attended the Court on that date.

(4) This section does not apply to an accused person who has been granted or refused bail or in relation to whom bail has been dispensed with.” 

If you cannot show up on the day of the hearing and were unable to return the “Written Notice of Pleading”, it is most essential to write a letter to the court explaining why you were unable to return the notice.

However, if you wish to plead Guilty but wish to adjourn your matter then it is very important that you attached a letter to the “Written Notice of Pleading” outlining your reasons why you need to adjourn the matter. We discuss some common reasons for adjournment in section 5 below.

If you were required by Police to sign a “Bail Agreement” at the time of arrest then you MUST appear at Court on the listed date. If you fail to appear at Court when you are on Bail then the Court may issue a bench warrant for your arrest.

It is generally advised that you disregard the “Written Notice of Pleading” and instead attend Court in person to enter your plea and request an adjournment.

Appearing in Person (recommended)

It is advisable that you take the time out to attend Court at the time and date issued to you under the Court Attendance Notice. It will show the Court that you are ready to deal with the matter head on. It will also allow you to personally enter a plea and seek an adjournment.

You will need to wait around at Court until the legally represented matters have been dealt with and your name is called. Once your matter has been called you should stand up and indicate who you are to the Magistrate. They you need to move forward where there should be a microphone stand in which you can inform the Magistrate as to whether or not your wish to plead Guilty or Not Guilty.

If you are pleading Not Guilty then the Magistrate may ask you on what basis you have decided to defend the charges. You need to be prepared to provide the Magistrate which a plausible basis for pleading Not Guilty, whether that be on the facts of the case or the law or something else. As previously mentioned if you are intent on pleading Not Guilty then you should seek advice and possible representation from a lawyer. If you plead Not Guilty then the Court will set your matter down for a further Court date in which a defended hearing can be run.

On the other hand if you have decided to plead Guilty to the charges then you should inform the Court that you wish to plead Guilty with an explanation. This means that you agree that you are Guilty of the offence however you wish to explain the reasons as to how this offence came about and also provide mitigating information or evidence to the Court.

If you plead Guilty and are ready to have your matter heard then and there at the first Court mention then you need to forget about requesting an adjournment and move straight on to presenting your case to the Court.

It is strongly recommended that you do seek an adjournment at your first Court mention so that you have time to prepare your case thoroughly. Magistrates are generally always willing to provide you with 1 adjournment in order to seek legal advice, prepare character references/documents, get medical treatment/evidence or to complete a traffic education program.

It is advisable that you enter a plea at the first available opportunity. You can enter a plea of Guilty and then request an adjournment. However, if you wish to obtain some legal advice in relation to what plea you should enter then you may wish to explain to the Magistrate that you would like to get an adjournment to obtain legal advice before you enter a plea.

[bullet_block large_icon=”42.png” width=”” alignment=”center” font_size=”20″ font_font=”Oswald” font_color=”#057500″ font_spacing=”4″ font_shadow=”none”]

  • Managing the Police Facts Sheet

[/bullet_block]

The Police Facts Sheets is a written set of facts which the Police provide to you, to the Police prosecutor and to the Court which briefly outline a set of facts from the point of view of the Police surrounding the incident which led to a person being charged with a particular offence.

For drink driving matters the Police Facts Sheets generally includes the following set of facts:
  • Time, date and location in which you came to the attention of Police or in which you were found or believed to be driving whilst under the influence of an intoxicating substance;
  • How you came to the attention of Police (i.e. Random Breath Test, pulled over for erratic driving or speeding, dangerous driving, observed leaving a licensed premise etc);
  • What you said to the Police when asked certain questions (e.g. have you been drinking, how many drinks have you had, where have you come from, what do you do for work etc) and anything else you expressly say to the Police at the time of arrest;
  • The procedures that the Police took from the start fright through to the end of the arrest procedure;
  • Police may make mention of your previous traffic history; and
  • Police may also make mention of your general attitude and behaviour and any other notable issues surrounding the incident that they believed should be raised before the Court.

So basically the Police Facts Sheet is the Police’s account of what went down in the lead up to and during your arrest. Remember that it is the set of facts from the Police’s point of view and you may not necessarily agree with the facts.

One most notable issue that many people disagree with when it comes to the Police Facts Sheet have to do with some of the observations mad by the Police. In nearly all standard drink driving cases the Police will insert an observation that the defendant either had “blood shot eyes”, “a smell of liquor on their breath”, “slurring their words”, “unsteady on their feet”. These types of comments provide the Police with reasonable suspicion that a person has been drinking and allows them to investigate this issue further generally by subjecting a person to a road side breath test.

You need to understand that when the Police are drafting the Facts Sheet document they are able to utilize pre-written sentences to insert into the Facts Sheet, which are often standards facts for nearly all drink driving matters such as some of the statements mentioned above.

So what you need to do is carefully go through the Police Facts Sheet and determine whether or not there are any facts which are NOT true or which have NOT been proven and are prejudicial or further harmful to the position when presented to the Court.

If there are statements in the Police Facts Sheet which you believe to be incorrect or untrue and which appear to be prejudicial to your situation then you can request that you submit some “Written Representations” to the Police in order to amend the Police Facts Sheet. If you are intent on seeking an adjournment on this basis then it is important that you politely request that the Police Facts Sheet not be tendered to the Court by the Police Prosecutor until “Written Submissions” have been made in an attempt to amend the facts. The idea behind this is that you do not want the Magistrate reading the possibly prejudicial statements made about you if they should not have been inserted into the Police Facts Sheet.

It is not uncommon for Police to insert statements that alleged that the defendant was actually breaking other traffic laws whilst drink driving. For example the Police may state that the person driving was pulled over for talking on their mobile phone and then breath tested. But if the Police did not charge or fine you with the offence of driving whilst on a mobile phone then they should not allege that you were committing this offence in the set of Police Facts Sheet which outline the offence of drink driving. The Police cannot make outlandish statements such as these which are prejudicial to your situation (by making you look worse before the Court) and which do not specifically relate to the elements of the drink driving charge.

IMPORTANT: If you appear at the first Court mention and you intend on seeking an adjournment for the purpose of submitting “written representations” to Police in relation to a charge or the Facts Sheet then it is IMPORTANT that you request to adjourn the matter without entering a plea (i.e. do not enter a plea of Guilty or Not Guilty).

The reason why you do not want to enter a plea is because if you have already entered a plea of Guilty and then you write to Police seeking to negotiate a charge or amend the Facts Sheet the Police will be more reluctant to deal with you if they know that you have already entered a plea of Guilty. Police attitude is to get a Guilty verdict in Court as fast as possible. Let it be known Police generally hate going to Court and if you plead Not Guilty then they will have to attend a defended hearing and give evidence in Court (Police Hate Doing This!).

So if you issue “written representations” and inform the Police that you have not yet entered a plea of Guilty but you will do so on the proviso that they amend the Police Facts Sheet, then the Police will be more willing to negotiate with you if they can see that you will plead Guilty instead of Not Guilty where they would be required to attend Court.

By not entering a plea if you intend on seeking an adjournment for the purpose of issuing “written representations” on Police, you maintain a certain level of leverage which can often persuade the Police in dealing with your request. Your “written representations” or negotiations MUST of course be reasonable.

Some Police are more willing to Amend a Police Facts Sheet than others are – you will not always succeed in being successful on your “written representations” but there is no harm in trying to remove prejudicial facts from the Police Facts Sheet if they do not directly relate to the elements of the charge in turn making you look worse in the Magistrates eyes.

 

Just remember the Police Facts Sheet needs to deal with the charges that have been laid and provide facts which relate to the elements of the offence/s which you have been charged with. When we say “elements of a charge” we are referring to the substantive actions that you have caused to make you commit an offence.

If these facts vary away from dealing with the offences you have been charged with or if they seek to prejudice your position before the Court then you should give serious consideration to seeking that the Police Facts Sheet be amended. We will discuss how to go about making Written Representations and running a Disputed Facts Hearing later in this NSW DUI Court Manual.

[bullet_block large_icon=”43.png” width=”” alignment=”center” font_size=”20″ font_font=”Oswald” font_color=”#057500″ font_spacing=”4″ font_shadow=”none”]

  • Seeking an adjournment

[/bullet_block]

If you are so fortunate, the Magistrate may grant you an adjournment. On the other hand, some Magistrates may not. In the latter case, it is possible that your matter may be dealt with on the day of your first Court appearance or in your absence if you are unable to attend, however this is rarely the case. If this happens, you should seek legal advice with a view to a re-hearing.

It is more appropriate and highly recommended that you actually make a personal appearance on every occasion that you are supposed to attend Court. Generally all of the defendants who have lawyers acting will be called first, however once your matter or name is called you will have the opportunity to stand up and move forward to a table or standing microphone situation around the centre of the court. You will be situation directly in front of the Magistrate where you will have an opportunity to advise the court your name, what you intend to plea (i.e. guilty or not guilty) and whether or not you require an adjournment and for what reasons.

You should address the Magistrate in the following manner:

First, the Magistrate will call your name.

At this point, you will have to say:

“Your Honour, I am Mr/Mrs/Ms _____________(YOUR NAME) and I appear here before the court today in relation to __________________(STATE TYPE OF OFFENCE i.e. Middle Range PCA Charge).

I wish to enter a plea of guilty and seek an adjournment for a period of ______ (number of days/weeks) to _______ (reason)…”

Here, you must convince the Magistrate by providing a good reason for requesting the adjournment. Some of the ideal reasons include seeking legal advice, submitting written representations (discussed below), obtaining references, showing up at an exam or job interview, or attending a Traffic Offender Program.

Some courthouses will be set up with a “Call Over Court” which is basically a smaller courtroom where the court Registrar will be sitting on the bench and will handle basic case management procedures such as standard adjournments. The Registrar has limited powers and can generally only order a maximum of 6 weeks adjournment. Should you require a long period for adjournment and have good reason for such request then you will generally have to appear before a Magistrate to obtain such an order.

Some of the most common reasons for a Magistrate to grant an adjournment include:

  • Traffic Offenders Program – most Magistrates generally hold the Traffic Offenders Program in high regard and therefore if a defendant is willing to take part in such a program then generally a Magistrate will grant an adjournment for the defendant to complete it. There are several Traffic Offender Program courses, which have been authorized by the NSW Attorney General, they are often organized and located at the local Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC). For a full list of the location and contact details of all authorised NSW Traffic Offender Programs please see the Resources Section. There may be other types of education or rehabilitation programs that may be of use, either way the Court will generally grant an adjournment for such course participation to be taken.
  • Written Representations – there is a little trick lawyers use to try to minimize and mitigate the seriousness of your situation. You should always obtain a copy of the police facts sheet at the time of charge or at the first court mention but prior to being called before the Magistrate or Registrar. If there is information in the facts that you believe are prejudicial to you being dealt with fairly on the existing charges before the court then it is recommended that you write a formal letter to the Police Officer who arrested you and request that they amend the Police Facts Sheet or remove certain facts. You may need to follow this issue up with the Police several times before you get a response back since Police are generally known to be slow and shabby with their paper work.

Remember you need to make sure that this happens before the Magistrate is provided with a copy of the Police Facts Sheet by the prosecutor at the first mention. If you are at the first mention and have not had time to write to the police regarding your request then you should enter your plea (guilty/not guilty) but request that the facts sheet should NOT be presented to the Magistrate as there is a dispute over the facts and that you require some time to submit what is known as “Written Representations” to the police.

Alternatively, if you think the prejudicial facts in the Police Facts Sheet are so serious that it may have a bearing on your plea (e.g. guilty/not guilty) then you should request an adjournment to put on written representations and seek to enter a plea on the next return court date once you have received a response to your written representations. On the first appearance the Magistrate will generally have no problems in granting you a 4-6 week adjournment for this purpose.

An example situation would be where the Police Facts Sheet indicates that police believed that you were talking on your mobile phone prior to being pulled over but no charge or fine was ever issued for driving whilst using a mobile device. Then you would want to write to the police requesting that they remove those facts as they do not relate to the elements of proving the drink driving charge, you haven’t been charged with the offence and that it is simply prejudicial to your court case. Such facts will only put you in a worse light possible when the Magistrate finally has a chance to read them. Please see Resources Section for an example of a Written Representations to police.

  • Doctor of Psychologist Report – if alcohol is an ongoing issue with you then it is highly advisable that you make an appointment with your General Practitioner (GP) so that you can discuss your drinking issues with them. In many circumstances the doctor may provide you with a referral to see a psychologist for a number of sessions. The psychologist may prescribe you with specific medication or require that you continue seeing them to assess how your treatment is going over an extended period of time.

The psychologist will generally be happy to provide your with a report to indicate that they have assessed you and if there are issues that require treatment and what treatment you are prepared to undergo. You will be able to hand a copy of this report up to the Magistrate on the day of your final hearing. This shows that you are taking proactive action to try and rehabilitate yourself if it is found that you have alcohol issues or other psychological or physiological issues which may be of some cause to the offending behaviour.

Note: The Magistrate may not allow a second time for adjournment so be prepared for a sentence hearing when your matter comes up again, so it is important that you seek enough time for an adjournment to prepare your case properly.

Please also note that some DUI offences mean that your licence will be suspended at the time of charge (e.g. generally middle range and more serious offences). Do not be too concerned about wasting time without a licence whilst you adjourn your matter because you can request that the Magistrate take into consideration the time already spent off the road without a licence when it comes time to sentencing – this can be raised in your final court submissions.

[bullet_block large_icon=”44.png” width=”” alignment=”center” font_size=”20″ font_font=”Oswald” font_color=”#057500″ font_spacing=”4″ font_shadow=”none”]

  • Documents to obtain

[/bullet_block]

The main documents that you should obtain at the first Court mention are referred to as the “Facts and Record”.

Basically this includes the Police Facts Sheet which outlines the charge and all of the facts surrounding the offence which the Police intend on relying on when the matter is determined before a Magistrate at the final hearing.

The Record refers to your criminal and traffic history which the Police Prosecutor should have with them.

It is very important that you obtain these documents from the Police Prosecutor who will be situated in Court at the bar table (the table where lawyers sit).

After you have entered a plea and/or sought an adjournment you should very politely ask the Police Prosecutor if you can get a copy of the Police Facts and Record. Try to request this quickly and quietly so that you do not cause any interruption to the flow of the Court.

Alternatively, you could ask the Magistrate for a copy of the Police Facts and Record and the Magistrate will instruct the Police Prosecutor to provide you with a copy.

You may have already been provided with a copy of the Police Facts Sheet at the time of charge, however if you do not have a copy then it is advisable to refrain from entering a plea until you have carefully read through the Police Facts Sheet.

Obtaining a copy of your current criminal and traffic history is also very important to have since it will be scrutinized heavily by the Magistrate at the final Court hearing. If it is bad history then you need to be prepared to deal with a discussion on your previous indiscretions. Alternatively, if it is a good traffic history you will want to point that out to the Magistrate.

At the time of charge you should also be provided with a Section 33 Breath or Blood Sample Certificate which will outline your blood alcohol reading and the time in which the sample was take. If you did not receive this upon being charged then you should obtain a copy before entering a plea since it may or may not raise an ability to defend the charges.

Another document that you should obtain but which is of lesser importance is a “Custody Management Report” which provides information on how the Police dealt with you following your arrest.

The main documents that relate to your charge include:
  • Court Attendance Notice (C.A.N.)
  • Police Facts Sheet
  • Traffic History
  • Section 33 Breath/Blood Analysis Certificate
  • Custody Management Report

But as mentioned above the most important of these documents are the Police Facts Sheet and the Traffic History. The Section 33 Certificate is also important in making sure the breath/blood analysis was carried out properly and within the appropriate time limits.

When in Court however the Police Prosecutor will be able to provide you with the Facts and Record which you should definitely obtain.

[bullet_block large_icon=”45.png” width=”” alignment=”center” font_size=”20″ font_font=”Oswald” font_color=”#057500″ font_spacing=”4″ font_shadow=”none”]

  • Important details to record

[/bullet_block]

Throughout Step 3 of the NSW DUI Court Manual we have focused predominantly on attending Court at the first mention, informing you what to do including going about obtaining an adjournment. However, when you do go to Court it is important that you have a plan of what you need to achieve on each occasion and later on we will provide you with a DUI Court Checklist which will help you plan and organize for preparing your case and attending Court.

When you do attend Court at the first mention you will need to take a diary or a writing pad along with you to jot down some important information on the day.

In particular you should take note of the following information:
  • Who the Magistrate is.
  • Any types of arguments or submissions from other lawyers of defendants that the Magistrate is compassionate about or strict on.
  • What plea you have entered (i.e. Guilty, Not Guilty or no plea entered).
  • Time, date and location of your next Court appearance.
  • Reasons for obtaining adjournment (i.e. Traffic Offenders Program, Medical Certificate, Psychologist/Psychiatrist Report, Alcohol Counseling etc).
  • Any other general observations either good or bad which you can take on board for when you come back and deal with your matter at the final Court hearing.

If you intend to represent yourself then you will be required to sit in Court and wait for all of the lawyers and represented defendants cases to go before you. This is actually a good thing because it will allow you to take in the surroundings and do some observing. During this time you need to just write down any important observations, which you think may be important for you to take on board. This way at a later stage you can consult those notes before the next Court appearance.

Why not copy down things that are similar to your case and which the Magistrate is either pleased about or unhappy about, try to emulate the good things and distance yourself from the things that the Magistrate clearly has no time for.

In addition to this and as mention above you need to jot down some of the basic things like when your next Court appearance is, what plea you have entered and who the Magistrate is. You may think that this all seems obvious and that you don’t need to write this information down because you will remember it.

BE WARNED – when you are in Court things happen very quickly, you may be nervous and a little bit anxious which may lead to you not taking in everything that was said or happened in the Court. You need to just take a step back and slow down and take the time to write everything down. If you are standing before the Magistrate and you didn’t hear something or something wasn’t made clear to you then you should politely yet confidently ask the Magistrate to clarify the issue so that you can quickly write down the information.

Generally speaking the Magistrate will be only more than happy to help you through the process and make sure that you fully understand everything that is going on.

Take notes, being organized, planning and preparing are all part of what we aim to teach you in order to help you confidently represent yourself and obtain a better Court result for your matter.

Ready to move on?

[feature_box style=”19″ title=”Next…..Step # 4 – Main Case Preparation below:” alignment=”center”]

[/feature_box]

 

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The information provided in the “NSW DUI Court Bible” is NOT legal advice and we do not hold ourselves out to be offering legal advice. We have no claim that this information should be taken as legal advice in replacement of seeking out the services of a legal practitioner.