Case Study: Self-Defence and Other Issues in a Domestic Violence Charge

Background

 A verbal argument between our client and her husband, the complainant, escalated into a physical altercation resulting in charges of recklessly causing injury, unlawful assault, and unlawful assault with a weapon. Our client questioned her husband over his alleged relationship with another woman, and he followed her to the kitchen. Our client then grabbed a kitchen knife, but before she could do anything, her husband grabbed her, and they engaged in a scuffle.

Our defence team argued that our client acted in self-defence pursuant to section 322K of the Crimes Act 1958. We contended that our client believed her conduct was necessary to defend herself and was a reasonable response given that her husband followed her to the kitchen and grabbed her, aggravating the situation. We also provided evidence of previous unreported family violence between the parties to provide context evidence.

Attitude of the Complainant

The complainant wanted to withdraw his complaint and was strongly opposed to the matter proceeding to court, and the parties were seeking professional help to resolve their issues. Furthermore, there was no medical evidence to suggest that our client's actions caused the injuries. We listened to the record of interview and found that our client accepted the blame on herself, as she did not wish the complainant to get in trouble, and she regretted speaking to the police.

Our Client’s Good Character

Our client had no prior record with the police and was a woman of good character. Additionally, both parties had recently experienced a significant amount of stress, and this incident acted as a circuit breaker for them to resolve their issues. We argued that it was not in the public interest to proceed with the matter, and there were no reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution.

Based on these issues, we requested that the police informant and the relevant prosecutor withdraw all charges.

In conclusion, our team successfully defended our client against the charges of domestic violence by arguing self-defence and other relevant issues. We were able to demonstrate that the charges were not in the public interest and that there were no reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution.

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