Senior Trial Advocate and Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law, Manny Conditsis appeared for our client who was charged with the very serious charges of Wound with Intent to Cause Grievous Bodily Harm [GBH] [carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 25 years], and as an alternative to the main charge, that our client was Reckless as to the Wounding [carrying a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years].
The Crown case was that, the our client became aware that the alleged victim [a male] intended to meet with our client’s partner, that he arrived at the scene and beat the alleged victim about the head and body with a baseball bat or other wooden object. The alleged victim suffered significant injuries including a fractured skull.
The Crown offered to accept a plea of guilty to the less serious alternate charge, however, Mr Conditsis’ view was that the Crown case was problematic and rejected the offer. Consequently, the charges proceeded to trial in the District Court on an ‘all or nothing’ basis.
There was a significant volume of electronic evidence, including text and Facebook messages that arguably, pointed to our client as the attacker.
The cross examination of the alleged victim by Mr Conditsis focussed on a number of inconsistencies in his statements to police and he made significant inroads in discrediting the alleged victim. The matter was adjourned overnight, and the cross examination of the victim had not concluded.
However, the next morning, the victim did not want to continue giving evidence and the Crown withdrew the charges.
An outstanding result for our client who was facing a maximum period of imprisonment of 25 years.
