This is a case study on withdrawing Threat to Inflict Serious Injury charges.
What is alleged to have occured?
Our client was charged with threatening serious injury to his ex-girlfriend. The allegation was that he sent her a message saying that he was going to ‘jazz’ her – which meant ‘stab’ according to the prosecution. The client made admissions about sending this message.
This charge is serious given the public attitudes towards family violence.
What happened at court?
The case was heard at the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court and we represented the client on charges of Threats to Inflict Serious Injury.
We took the client through our strategy. The client was concerned about having a criminal record as this would affect his employment. Hence, we prepared for a diversion which is a way of avoiding a criminal record. We also prepared to contest the matter if diversion was refused.
Character references were gathered including the client’s personal history and a psychological report. We attended court and case conferenced with the prosecution. Flaws were pointed out in the prosecution case – the word ‘jazz’ was ambiguous.
What was the result?
As a result, the prosecution withdrew the Threat to Inflict Serious Injury charges on the basis that they could not prove what ‘jazz’ means. This as a fantastic result for the client. Withdrawing the Threat to Inflict Serious Injury charges meant that he avoided a criminal record.
Elements of Threats to Inflict Serious Injury:
What is alleged to have occured?
Our client was charged with threatening serious injury to his ex-girlfriend. The allegation was that he sent her a message saying that he was going to ‘jazz’ her – which meant ‘stab’ according to the prosecution. The client made admissions about sending this message.
This charge is serious given the public attitudes towards family violence.
What happened at court?
The case was heard at the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court and we represented the client on charges of Threats to Inflict Serious Injury.
We took the client through our strategy. The client was concerned about having a criminal record as this would affect his employment. Hence, we prepared for a diversion which is a way of avoiding a criminal record. We also prepared to contest the matter if diversion was refused.
Character references were gathered including the client’s personal history and a psychological report. We attended court and case conferenced with the prosecution. Flaws were pointed out in the prosecution case – the word ‘jazz’ was ambiguous.
What was the result?
As a result, the prosecution withdrew the Threat to Inflict Serious Injury charges on the basis that they could not prove what ‘jazz’ means. This as a fantastic result for the client. Withdrawing the Threat to Inflict Serious Injury charges meant that he avoided a criminal record.
Elements of Threats to Inflict Serious Injury:
- The accused made a threat to the victim to inflict serious injury upon either the victim or another person;
- The accused either intended the victim to fear that the threat would be carried out; or was reckless as to whether or not the victim would fear that the threat would be carried out;
- The threat was made without lawful excuse.
DISCLAIMER: This is a real case study of an actual case from our files. Details pertaining to the client have been changed to protect their privacy. The sentence imposed and the charge have not been altered. These case studies are published to demonstrate real outcomes and give an indication of possible tariffs in Court. We do not guarantee a similar case on these charges will get the same result. Please note that we post results at our discretion, therefore while many case studies are average results, others are notable for their exceptional outcomes. PUBLISHED 19/08/2019
