Our 43-year-old client who is self employed as a tradesman from Parramatta was charged with affray and damage property.
One day our client was invited to his friend’s property to have a casual night of drinks, upon entering the premises he was set upon by another attendee who consistently belittled and threatened him; this continued for most of the night with our client remaining calm and respectable.
At one point in the night the other attendee has struck the host causing our client to immediately respond to protect the host and himself from further attacks. This led to damage to the property and extensive injuries.
Police arrived at the scene and upon seeing the injuries on the other attendee immediately arrested and charged our client without any understanding or consideration of the circumstances.
Our client contacted CDLA and spoke to our lawyer Alex Istifan who listened and advised him. It was clear that this was a self defence case with a weak prosecution case.
In the following months our Alex Istifan and our client worked closely to prepare the defence case in the lead up to the hearing at Parramatta Court, covering all issues and approaches in preparation for the day at court.
On the day of the hearing at Parramatta local court Alex strategically cross examined all the police witnesses and challenged the evidence, raising self defence on behalf of our client, which could not be rebutted or negated by police in court. In the result, our client was found not guilty by the Magistrate and acquitted of the charges.
This meant that our client could continue with his life and job free of a criminal conviction or any record for the incident which he was wrongfully charged.