Plea Bargaining: Getting Dangerous Driving Dropped

I recently acted for a client who had been charged with Dangerous Operation of a Vehicle Speeding in an Unlawful Race, otherwise known as Dangerous Driving, which is a Crime.

Now, I have read thousands of Police Briefs in my time, and most of them just get to the point.

However, this one read like a movie script.

Basically, Witness 1 claimed to have seen my client drag racing his friend along a dual carriageway, which constitutes Dangerous Driving.

Witness 1 made much of the fact that he had been attending 'drag racing and talking to drivers' throughout the past 20 years, and was therefore blessed with an uncanny ability to estimate speed and know Dangerous Driving when he sees it.

Witness 1 said he heard engines revving and accelerating behind him, and he then saw 2 vehicles passing him side by side at 'no less than' 110km/h. Witness 2 further up the road was so startled by what she heard, she ran out onto her front yard and saw 2 vehicles, still side by side, drag racing past her house at 'between 120-140 km/h'.

Witness Credibility

It turns out Witnesses 1 & 2 were husband and wife, and that nobody else frantically ran out to their front yard.

Also, my client was driving a 210kw unladen Holden SV6 ute, and his friend was driving his Mum's 140kw Hyundai Santa Fe.

Question of Physics

Basic physics suggests that if these two vehicles were genuinely drag racing, they would not have remained parallel as described by the husband and wife witnesses, given the Holden had twice the kilowatts of the Hyundai.

Malicious Complaint

Upon querying my client further, it became apparent that an unfounded rape complaint had previously been made against him, and that Witnesses 1 & 2 were actually family friends of the parents of the complainant.

As stated above, Dangerous Operation of a Vehicle Speeding in an Unlawful Race or Dangerous Driving is a Crime, to be said in the same sentence as Murder.

Written Submission

I wrote an 8 page written submission to Police Prosecutions outlining my concerns, and stating that my client would be willing to plead guilty to the lesser traffic offence of Driving Without Due Care & Attention, in the event that they would be willing to downgrade the charge from Dangerous Driving.

I also made it clear that in the event that the charge was to remain, we would be taking the matter to trial.

Charge Dropped

To their credit, the Police Prosecutors saw the flaws in the case and agreed to reduce the charge.

Instead of a Criminal Conviction, my client walked away with an entry on his traffic history only.