If you plead not guilty, your matter will then be set down for a defended hearing or a trial to determine whether you are found guilty or not guilty of the offence you have been charged with.
At your first court appearance you will enter a plea of Not Guilty. Except in certain circumstance, the Magistrate will then make an order for a “Brief of Evidence” to be served on either you or your legal representative. This Brief of Evidence is a collection of all of the evidence that the police will rely upon in your matter. You will then need to review this to make sure you still wish to continue pleading not guilty.
You will then be required to return to Court for a Second Mention. This is where you will either change your plea to Guilty, or confirm that you still wish to plead not guilty. If you still wish to defend the charges the matter will then be listed for a Defended Hearing. This is where the Judge will make a final decision of guilty or not guilty after hearing all the evidence. In the Local Court it usually takes around 3 to 4 months to be listed for hearing. This depends how busy the Local Court is.
Once you have your hearing date set down it is important that you make sure that any witnesses and or evidence that you will rely on at your hearing are available on that date.
It is important that you get legal advice before entering a plea of guilty or not guilty as there are discounts given on your sentence for early guilty pleas. If you go to Defended Hearing pleading not guilty and then change to a guilty plea later you may lose those discounts which means you may receive a harsher sentence. Also, it may be that some witnesses require a subpoena to be issued for them to attend Court to appear at your hearing when you want them to.
Please note the answers provided are for your general information only and we ask you to call our office on 02 6331 2911 to obtain detailed legal advice for your individual situation.
Alice Cheek | Criminal Law Solicitor