Pleading Guilty

When you are faced with a charge, Court Attendance Notice and a fact sheet these 'facts' will overwhelmingly support the case against you and quite likely prejudice you. It is important that you first seek professional advice in relation to your Court Attendance Notice so that you are able to plead guilty to what you have actually done.

Even when pleading guilty the original facts can be changed to properly represent your conduct by negotiating with the police or DPP with a lawyer that understands how this process works.

Pleading guilty does attract a 25% discount at the earliest opportunity. It is common that people enter a plea too soon before being advised. They may feel guilty of something and this can often lead to pleading guilty to a far more serious charge than their conduct represents.

A good example of this might be that you get into an argument with a cab driver. You exchange swear words and the argument is very heated and your words were highly offensive. You get out of the cab and walk down the street. Your friend stays in the cab and 100 meters down the road your friend punches the cab driver. You are all charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company, a serious violence offense. This type of scenario is very common.

Too many people simply plead guilty to serious offenses like this without understanding that they have a right to plead to a lesser charge like offensive language. It is very common for the police to accept such representations. This can be the difference between a $660 fine and a 7 year maximum prison sentence.