Case Study

Our client was stopped by Police while driving home after attending an event. She had consumed two drinks and thought she would be under the limit, but ultimately was slightly over. She was not driving dangerously, and had never had anything to do with the Police or criminal justice system.

Our client was charged with excess breath alcohol (drink driving). She pled guilty but was seeking a discharge without conviction, as the potential consequences of a conviction to her were significant. If convicted, it would mean she could not move overseas to be with family and could possibly have issues when looking for future employment.

We disagreed with the original hearing decision and the reasoning behind it, and the client agreed with our assessment. She instructed us to pursue an appeal. This meant we weren’t just trying to get the Judge to consider the application on its own. We had to convince the Appeal Judge that the Community Magistrate had got things wrong with her original decision, and we were determined to get the right outcome for our client.

It can be difficult to get a discharge without conviction for drink driving given how common, but fatal it is in New Zealand. We reviewed the Community Magistrate’s judgment carefully and provided detailed submissions highlighting where the original judgement had gone wrong. We made sure the Appeal Judge had all relevant information to come to what we considered to be the right outcome.

The Appeal Judge decided to grant our client’s application for a discharge without conviction. This meant that our client’s conviction was quashed and she no longer has any charges on her criminal history.

If we had just accepted the Community Magistrate’s decision, the client would still have a life-altering conviction which would affect the opportunities available to her in future and prevent her from moving overseas.