Our client is a lawyer from the eastern suburbs of Sydney.
He is charged with 11 criminal offences including assault occasioning actual bodily harm, using a carriage service to menace, harass or offence, sexual touching, two counts of intentionally choking a person without consent and three counts of sexual intercourse without consent (sexual assault).
He was refused bail at the police station and engaged our services immediately thereafter, before being brought to court for a bail application the next day.
The case has been highly publicised, with several mainstream media organisations reporting in a manner unfavourable to our client.
It is often the case that in circumstances of this nature, defence lawyers will adjourn cases for days or even weeks – which means their clients remain remanded in custody and have to wait until the necessary work is undertaken.
However, our defence team got to work right away, obtaining detailed information from our client, identifying circumstances relevant to determinations under the Bail Act and making relevant inquiries.
Urgently undertaking such work is crucial to all bail applications, and having a specialist criminal defence team involved is vital in that regard.
Bail applications in cases of this nature require the defence to establish that any risks associated with releasing the defendant can be overcome by appropriate bail conditions.
In court, the presiding magistrate was indeed concerned about the seriousness of the charges and a number of potential risks, but given the preparation undertaken in the abridged period of time and submissions in court addressing those risks was ultimately persuaded to grant bail.
Our client was, as a result, granted bail and released from custody.