Heres some history.......
I was charged with dangerous driving, and failing to stop, speeds in excess of 180kph.
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=19120
After a lot of mucking around the case finally got to court, 9 months after the fact!
Anyway the case went really well, The officer got up and gave his detailed account and showed a video of the road in question, he also had a big layout of maps showing the road, i have no doubt in my mind he thought he had everything covered, his testimony took about 45mins i suppose.
Then it was time for my lawyer to cross examine him, David (my lawyer) started off getting the officer to confirm key facts in his statement, then he proceeded to go over each one with a fine tooth comb, asking for numerous details about each, like speed, distance, traffic etc.
We knew there were a number of conflicting statements in the officers notes vs. his summary of facts, My Lawyer picked away at the officer highlighting how he got it wrong in judging speed and distance on numerous occasions, then he put to the officer what my three witnesses saw (which is totally different to what the officer just stated) and that i wasnt travelling anywhere near 150 let alone 180 which he alleged, the officer by this time was starting to get rattled and annoyed, there was no end in sight to my lawyers questions, they just kept coming, at time i even thought it was a bit drawn out, but it had the desired affect in working the officer up.
When questioned about his attitude towards me after he pulled me up, he had to admit it wasn't professional and that he was running on adrenaline.
Then came the cool bit, questions on why he didn't follow the police procedure for chases, Which i had obtained a copy of under the official information act. When comparing the transcript of the officers call to the communications centre i noted he didn't even try to follow the policy. I gave my lawyer instructions to question the officer hard on this as it would put him in a bad light.
When my lawyer started down this road the police prosecutor tried to stop it, asking what relevance it had, but the judge said he wanted to hear it, my lawyer proceed to hand a copy of the pursuit procedure to the judge, the prosecutor and the officer, he then went over a number of points in the policy, he asked the officer if he was familiar with the document, to which he had to sate "yes". My lawyer then went to question the officer further on a point asking if he had followed it, the officer butted in and said "I know where your going with this, but may i remind you council its only a guideline to be followed if possible" this of course was incorrect, and the judge with policy in his hand knew this, he stopped the officer and said in a surprisingly stern voice "You may not remind council of anything, answer the question, did you or did you not follow the policy" The officer of course had to say "no", from there my lawyer went to town on him, noting other areas he messed up.
It was a good cross eximine and i was ready to take the stand and help dig a bigger hole for the officer, but the judge hadn't finished with the officer, he kept him up there and questioned him repeatedly about his speeds and testimony, picking big holes in the officers statements
Once it appeared he had finished My lawyer stood up to call me to the stand, the judge told him to sit down and that he was going to make a decision right there. Now there's only one reason a judge makes a decision without hearing from the defence! Not guilty!
The judge then proceeded to sum up the case, making numerous comments about the officers dangerous driving and failure to follow police policy, it was pretty damning, and it went on for about 10mins! The officer was squirming in his chair. the last statement from the judge basically said he had grave concerns that the officer had a strong personal interest in the charge, in other words he was trying to cover himself. Not a good look.
To top it all off there was an officer sitting down the back taking notes for the complaint i made against the officer.
It was a beautiful thing!
Its was expensive, certainly a lot more than pleeding guilty and getting a work license, but i was prepared to pay as i saw it as a matter of principle.
The officer tried to embellish the facts, yes i was speeding, i was clocked at 121 on his radar before he turned to give chase, but i wasnt doing in excess of 180kph, the story he made up wasnt air tight, hes was a dirty cop and a cowboy, and the judge saw this.
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Originally Posted by skidmark
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