Senior Trial Advocate and Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law, Manny Conditsis appeared for our client who was charged with [deemed] supply of 57kgs of Cannabis, hinder police investigation and resist arrest in a defended Local Court hearing spanning 3 days. Based on a “tip-off”, Police found the drugs secreted under the tub of a utility being driven by our client with his mate, the co-accused being a passenger.
The co-accused pleaded guilty to the same deemed supply charge and was sentenced prior to our client’s defended hearing commencing.
The defence was that our client did not know that the drugs were secreted in the car when first pulled over by police, however, during the lengthy search by Police, the co-accused told our client that he had in fact hidden the drugs in the car.
A significant proportion of Mr Conditsis’ cross examination of Police centred on the Police-In-Car video footage of the search of the car.
Mr Conditsis set out to persuade the Magistrate that as a matter of law, our client was entitled to be acquitted.
Whilst ultimately his Honour convicted our client of the [deemed] supply charge, the Magistrate accepted the circumstances in which the defence said it occurred, and acquitted him of the ‘resist arrest and hinder police’ charges.
The Magistrate found the circumstances so unique in respect of the ‘supply charge’, that he did not impose a custodial sentence and imposed a Community Service Order without supervision.
Although, in our view, as a matter of law, the learned Magistrate was incorrect in applying the law, which resulted in our client’s conviction on the supply charge, our client was so pleased with the sentence, we were instructed not to lodge any appeal.
