Shortly after returning home from an afternoon at the Macedonian Club, Police arrived at our client’s home to question him about a minor traffic accident allegedly involving his vehicle. Police performed a breath analysis of our client, whose main language was Macedonian, and questioned him without issuing a proper caution. Our client made certain admissions about the consumption of alcohol at the Club and he was subsequently charged with exceed 0.08g alcohol per 100ml of blood. The breath analysis was performed after our client had a meal accompanied by a number of drinks when he arrived home.
After careful consideration of the body-worn camera footage, we advised our client to proceed to trial on the basis that he was not properly cautioned when he made admissions and the breath analysis was not an accurate representation of what it would have been at the time of driving his vehicle.
The matter was listed for a trial and vacated twice before the Police were willing to accept our submission to amend the charge to exceed 0.05g alcohol per 100ml of blood. Ultimately, the charge was amended, and our client entered a plea of guilty to the charge.
Had the charge not been amended our client was facing a minimum fine of $500.00 and a mandatory licence disqualification of six months. As a result of our negotiated plea, our client received a small fine, no licence disqualification and was awarded costs of $3,500.00. This was an exceptional outcome for our client who at 64 years of age had never had a run-in with the law and simply wanted to keep his licence so he could assist with looking after his beloved grandchildren.
