Pleas of Guilty

The decision to plead guilty is never easy. The immense stress, anxiety, and uncertainty about the outcome can exert a significant impact on both you and your family.

While you maybe willing to admit and offence often there are what’s called associated charges which can be negotiated and withdrawn.

A good lawyer would always do a detailed analysis of your case an attempt to obtain the best outcome possible.

We are here to help.

Our role is about limiting the damage to you. This is accomplished through a personalised service that strives to secure the best possible outcome for you without depleting your financial resources!

In contrast to the large firms with large overheads and a standard hefty price, McMahon Criminal Defence offer you a personalised service to get you the best outcome possible.

We have a variety of processes and tools that are employed by us to guide you through each step of the legal process.

Below is an example of our work.

Simon was arrested and charged with handing stolen property after police discovered a stolen trailer stored at his property. This is a serious charge under the Crimes Act and can carry a penalty of up to 15 years imprisonment. When confronted with the evidence that a long-time associate had told police about handing over the trailer to Simon, he admitted to police he was aware the trailer was stolen. Simon had been in trouble when he was a kid but now as a 52-year-old man with a career and family. Simon was far from the larrikin of his youth. Simon knew he had stuffed up, but we worked with him in a number of ways.

1. We adjourned his matter on its first occasion buying him some time to prepare his case and pay our fee over a longer period of time. We did this at no extra cost!
2. We provided Simon with character reference guides and went over with him who would be appropriate people to write one for him. We explained that anyone he got to write a reference had to be aware of the offence.
3. We took a full social history assessment from Simon. During that conference Simon disclosed he had been suffering from depression and we arranged for him to seek a letter from his doctor confirming his condition, what impact it had on him and how he was treated.
4. We did a full analysis of the law as it related to the offence that Simon was charged with and compared prior cases to Simon’s circumstances. Through this process we were able to give Simon some sense of the range of outcomes he was likely to face. This took away some of the anxiousness and fear about the upcoming hearing at the Magistrates Court.
5. We gathered all the information together, including character references, medical letters and information provided to us Simon about his life and our legal research and conducted a Plea for him in the Magistrates Court.

In the end, we were able to successfully argue that the combination of circumstances warranted that Simon be fined as punishment for his wrongdoing but that a criminal conviction not be recorded against him. The Court having considered all our submissions, including a letter from his doctor outlining his mental health and character references provided by Simon’s associates and friends, agreed. Simon was fined $500.00, and no conviction was recorded against him.