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Grazing Occultation posted:I've been summonsed. I'm an NZ lawyer, so Aussies feel free to correct me, but assuming committal over there is similar, you may have to give evidence or read your statement to the court, and as you're the main witness, you will most likely be cross examined by the defence. Whether it's a grilling or not will depend on the defence strategy - this is the defence's chance to ask you for more information, so they may stick to that, or may go further. In NZ now a lot of this kind of thing is being done by the hand up of written statements without any witnesses needing to be present at all - I'm not sure if this happens in Melbourne, but as you've been summonsed I imagine unless there's last minute agreement on the main facts between the two sides you'll be doing some talking. Do you have contact details for the prosecutor? If so, give them a call or email and ask what to expect - since they're familar with the case they should be able to give you an idea at least. Edit: You also asked about whether charges were automatic. The short answer is yes - rather than the charges being strictly on your behalf, the state/Crown etc will be prosecuting the defendant for breaking the law by assaulting you. The charges will be laid by the police. Usually the victim will be in agreement, since if the victim refuses to give evidence then the case may be difficult for the prosecution to prove. Also in laying charges, prosecutors are supposed to take the victim's view into account, but in the end it's their call rather than yours. There are also ways you can bring charges yourself, either in the criminal or civil context, but that's another kettle of fish altogether. Meander fucked around with this message at 07:38 on Apr 13, 2010 |
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Apr 13, 2010 07:31
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