Case Studies
Case Study – Charge Negotiation and Dealing with Distressed Clients
Julie was a young adult with intellectual disability and mental health issues. She was a happy person and lived independently in supported accommodation. On the day in question the police noticed her wandering around late at night, not far from a local pub. Julie did enjoy social outings of the kind frequently enjoyed by others of her age. The police stopped her on this particular evening to ostensibly enquire after her welfare. Julie had plenty of previous contact with the police and said she was fine. She took off across the road. She didn’t want to talk to police.
The police followed and questioned her further. The police said, “Where are you staying? Come with us, we’ll take you home.” When she realised that police intended to put her into the back of the paddy wagon, she became upset and said, “Why are you locking me up?” She was upset and spat out the grill at the police.
Julie was well known to police and the police were aware that she had an infectious disease. She was charged with a now repealed strictly indictable offence of attempting to cause a grievous bodily disease which carried a maximum penalty of 25 years.
At the time of this charge, Julie was already on bail for breaching an AVO taken out by her mother The AVO prohibited contact with her mother. But Mum invited Julie over for Easter. Unfortunately things did not go well and Mum ended up calling the police.
Julie was bail refused on the strictly indictable charge. When her lawyers visited in prison or in the cells she would display a range of emotions in very quick succession. She would initially be friendly but very quickly this would turn to anger, only to be replaced again by friendliness a short time later. Her lawyers needed to be understanding of Julie’s rapid changes in mood and to adjust their communication style to accommodate her. She was very distressed and frustrated at being locked up. A successful bail application was made after a period of some weeks.
Criminal Justice Support Network (“CJSN”) provided valuable support to Julie throughout the process. Their presence at court assisted Julie to remain calm and to cope with all the waiting around. Julie preferred to have CJSN with her at legal interviews rather than the workers from her supported accommodation.
A literature review on the transmission rate of this particular infectious disease via spittle was undertaken and the results were supplied to police as part of the charge negotiation process, along with evidence of Julie’s disability. Despite no documented cases of transmission via spittle, the police refused to either amend or withdraw the charge.
Once the matter passed to the DPP, similar approaches were made to the relevant lawyer and the matter was immediately withdrawn.
The breach of the AVO was dismissed pursuant to section 32.
Relationship Skills Previous Section 32s