"Unhand me wench!" or Where Your Mouth Does Not Help You...

[fireheart17]

http://www.news.com.au/national/sout...-1226775278986

So a fairly standard story to begin with....guy gets charged with harbouring kiddie porn, gets brought before the district court and then it goes down from there.
Summary:

-He was asked to produce a lawyer and failed to do so. He apparently claimed that he'd telephoned legal aid but hadn't heard anything back. (This is ignoring the fact that unless he was on home detention, legal aid offices are not that hard to come by)(#!)

-He was also caring for his wife (who has various unnamed disabilities).

-When the judge revoked his bail for failing to do what had been asked of him (Namely, SEEK LEGAL ADVICE), he threw a fit. And this is where it gets interesting for two reasons: the first is that he'd withdrawn his plea using a RELIGIOUS defence. The defence in question? He was praying over their images...this did not fly with the judge.
The second reason is that when the judge revoked his bail, he chose to make an ass out of himself. The claims however....were along the lines of a "higher power" type thing, but in this case it was the UN. He also claimed that the judge held no power over him or his wife

He was subsequently remanded.

And for anyone wondering, the judge ordered the sherriffs officers to make arrangements with the wife's doctors to arrange care for her.

(#!): You are allowed to represent yourself in Aussieland, but it is HEAVILY HEAVILY HEAVILY recommended that you seek legal advice first. Particularly with a kiddie porn charge. Clearly the judge wanted to HELP him have a fair trial (as opposed to a curb-stomp battle) but when he threw back any offers of help well....

I now wish there was a video of this!

[tabbyblack13]

Wow, I think someone is going to jail. He just set himself up to fail. My only questions is, are lawyers provided by the courts or do you have to pay for one? That might make it hard for someone on a fixed income to afford one.

For me, if I have to go to court for anything I will be getting a lawyer. It's a way to protect myself.

[Andara Bledin]

In the US, if you have to take a court-appointed lawyer, you could probably save yourself time and just plead No Contest and throw yourself on their mercy... >_>

[fireheart17]

Wow, I think someone is going to jail. He just set himself up to fail. My only questions is, are lawyers provided by the courts or do you have to pay for one? That might make it hard for someone on a fixed income to afford one.

Legal aid in this state (bear in mind this is a state case, not a federal one) comes with its own set of conditions. Namely:

-They will not take legal aid if they believe you can afford a lawyer ANYWAY.
-There is a cap on how much legal aid they can provide: the cap is around the sixty grand mark. Anything beyond that and it's sayonara.
-Legal aid is NOT free, generally you're asked to contribute. They'll take into account your income and whatnot, so you're not paying more than you can afford. This might start at around $20.
-They'll only take cases that are likely to succeed (in this case, the evidence is overwhelming against the guy), are "reasonable" to argue (in this case, nada) and if there's a civil case at hand, they'll only do the higher payout cases (because anything lower than a certain amount can be heard in the magistrates court which deals with lower-end cases and does not require a lawyer)

I also went back and read through his original judgement:

http://www.courts.sa.gov.au/Judgment...SADC%20135.pdf

http://www.news.com.au/national/sout...-1226741558446 (article summing it up)

(this is the first case prior to the "Unhand me" case)

His defence actually rests solely on a little piece of legislation that more or less allows exemptions for "child porn" viewers if they are providing genuine protection or legal advice (so for instance, a lawyer working with the victims of a child porn case cannot be punished for viewing said images...ditto for a social worker).
He also claimed that he'd only "view" child porn images if the kids were happy and wipe the unhappy ones.


That defence was thrown out by the court

[catcul]

This guy proves a saying American lawyers have about people who represent themselves in court, "He who represents himself in court has a fool for a lawyer and a jackass for a client."

[Nyoibo]

That's been around longer than American lawyers usually it's and idiot for a client though

[DGoddess]

This guy proves a saying American lawyers have about people who represent themselves in court, "He who represents himself in court has a fool for a lawyer and a jackass for a client."

Unless you're playing a guy on tv who is representing himself at trial (think of Ludacris' character, Darius in the Law and Order SVU episode "Screwed.") His character actually got off on a double murder charge.

But of course, tv and reality are more often than not, worlds apart. Perhaps that's what this guy in the OP was aiming for?

Either way, I suspect he's about to hand his ass to himself and become a laughingstock.

[fireheart17]

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/s...-1226786824405

And the mess just gets better. This article also highlights a couple of things that didn't turn up in the original post.

-In terms of the legal scenario, the judge actually ORDERED the guy to seek legal advice. I suspect this was because of his original defence having no actual legal sense.

-He intended to keep the "innocuous" images...given that he clearly stated that he was praying for CHILD PORN VICTIMS, it's kinda hard to argue that you're praying over the souls of two children running around naked in a paddling pool.

As for the update, someone finally appointed a lawyer to him (no clue who) and he's being held AGAIN for sentencing. The lawyer is trying to stall claiming a psychiatric defence and the judge has already admitted that a psychiatric report was undertaken...so this will be interesting.

Oh and in case anyone's wondering, the criminal wisely kept his mouth shut during the hearing

[Panacea]

I doubt the psychiatric defense will fly. This guy is just trying to delay the inevitable since he will probably die in prison as a result.

[Dreamstalker]

At least in the US, IIRC a true insanity defense is extremely difficult to pull off.

[lordlundar]

Doesn't really help either as the result is clinical treatment that is no less confining than prison (often in the same prison as if they weren't declared insane) and often longer with no chance for parole.