Allegations of Assault or Murder
Have you had an allegation of murder, sexual assault or physical assault causing harm made against you?
The South Australian criminal legal system, just like the rest of Australia, operates under an adversarial model in the conduct of legal proceedings. This requires the participation of two sides (parties) who argue before the court their opposing versions of the facts and the applicable law.
The DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) will use a skilled and senior barrister to prosecute you in a murder or assault trial – so what are you going to do?
If you are charged with murder, sexual assault or a serious physical assault causing some kind of harm, you are likely charged with a major indictable offence and will need to engage competent lawyers because the Government, through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (the DPP), will be ready and well-resourced to present their case against you.
An allegation of murder, sexual assault or serious physical assault is no walk in the park. You can anticipate the DPP lawyer will be very experienced and skilled in prosecuting assault or murder charges and will have solicitors and the full resources of the police investigators at their disposal.
Unless you elect to be tried by a Judge alone, you will have a jury of 12 ordinary people who decide, based on how the case is presented to them, what are the proven facts and whether or not you are guilty. What are you going to do?
It is not enough to rely on the presumption of innocence – it is better to do absolutely everything you can to prove your own case.
In the Australian legal system, the presumption of innocence imposes on the prosecution the burden of proving their case against you beyond reasonable doubt.
“Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law”
So, it’s the prosecution that has to prove the case against you beyond a reasonable doubt and you don’t have to prove anything – right? If that is all you have as your defence then you are in serious trouble.
Selecting your own legal team is going to be the most important thing that you will do
Your defence team must aggressively probe and seek to weaken the prosecution case and importantly, your defence team must also robustly seek ways to prove your case. It is not enough to rely on the presumption of innocence. It is far better to do all you can to prove your own case.
We can pull together the best and cost effective legal team for you
The State is the adversary, not the person who has made the complaint. You need a team that will fight for your rights and aggressively present your own case.
Northside Lawyers have significant experience to call upon in the criminal justice system and have acted in probably the longest criminal murder trial in South Australia history, commonly referred to as ‘the Snowtown Murders’ – you might have heard of it or seen the movie.
We charge very reasonable rates given our experience and knowledge in criminal matters and we will fight hard for your rights and, more importantly, will struggle with you to establish your innocence. We will not simply rely upon the presumption of innocence to do the work.
Make an appointment for a free first interview to chat with Bill Morris. He will advise you of the legal support we can provide for you and the estimated cost.
Important Information
The information published in this article contains general information of public interest only and is not intended to be, nor should be relied upon as, legal advice specific to the reader’s personal circumstances. Should you have a legal matter, please seek professional advice before acting or relying on this content.