Solicitors advice

[myhome]

But she can't alter the date and time of the alleged charge can she? Neither can the police as it us on the charge sheet isn't it?

One member on here was charged with rape and his FA'er said she remembered the time because the "Emmerdale" theme was playing. The member told the police it could not have been because he was at the gym at that time. Plod went back to the liar and told her this. So....she said, "Oh no. Sorry I got the time wrong. It was later than that because it was the 'News at Ten' theme!" And - yes - plod allowed this change and accepted the new time.

[frightened spouse]

But she can't alter the date and time of the alleged charge can she? Neither can the police as it us on the charge sheet isn't it?

It has been known to happen unbelievable as it may seem.

Thank you both for your points of view. It's like swimming with sharks isn't it? You just don't know where to turn or what to do when someone has done absolutely nothing wrong. Talk about baptism of fire!!!

You are absolutely right it is a game to these people, police and cps who are looking for brownie points and promotion regardless of truth or the innocence of the accused. In my opinion whether you are charged depends on so many factors , the age of the "victim", the officer in charge, the culture within the force and the competence of the cps lawyer reviewing the evidence just to name a few. In my husband's case they didn't follow procedure but trying to get them to acknowledge that is like trying to get blood from a stone.

It is actually easier to put forward a defence if you are charged, it is the only way you would see her statement, so trying to put anything together without the finer detail is fighting blind as it were.

[Incredulous]

But she can't alter the date and time of the alleged charge can she? Neither can the police as it us on the charge sheet isn't it?

[myhome]

I have irrefutable evidence - written and can't be disputed - that the woman who FA'd me is LYING through her teeth.
I was desperate to present this months and months ago to bring this whole sorry affair to an end; but advice from a criminal defence solicitor was that when you're holding the Ace of trumps you have to be very careful when you choose to play it.
He said that if I asked a solicitor to present this to the police then (early on) then they would present it to the liar and she would alter her story to refute my evidence. He said the best time to use it would be at the trial (if there would be one) when the prosecution would have little time to prepare against it; or second best would be after charge (if this was to happen) to try to prevent the trial happening.
Nearly 20 months on I'm wondering if I made the right decision, but my sister said, "There's no point asking for professional advice and then ignoring it...."
I really don't know...............

[Incredulous]

Thank you both for your points of view. It's like swimming with sharks isn't it? You just don't know where to turn or what to do when someone has done absolutely nothing wrong. Talk about baptism of fire!!!

[can it get worse]

Hi - sorry to throw a spanner in the works. CPS held plenty of info about our accuser which made clear her lack of credibility in many ways but they went ahead with charging and then tried to withhold the information from us when we were building the defence.

We were very fortunate to engage Chris who is experienced in these tactics.

[Casehardened]

Would love to know how you did this work yourself.

....just endless googling using relevant search terms to find appropriate websites. Quite often one site will provide a link to another and so on. I must have spent 100's of hours on the PC in the 9 months I was on bail; 50% of the information I dug out depressed me whilst the other 50% gave cause for optimism.

Note that the CPS lay their collective soul bare in their various websites and on the basis of 'know thine enemy' it is essential to study these. I gleaned that they place great importance on the credibility or otherwise of their prosecution witnesses (this is obvious really!) and so my aim was to discredit my accuser in their eyes prior to them making a charging decision.

I was extremely fortunate in that my OIC had just concluded a case in which the accuser had been proved to have fabricated the accusation so she was fairly receptive to my evidence and put this forward to the CPS lawyers.

[Casehardened]

Thanks. Was that Gerry McDonald or Chris ?

You have selected wisely! I have an idea that Gerry will still undertake legal aid funded cases whilst Chris will no longer take these on so in fact both firms are available to you if he is not eligible for legal aid.

If I required a solicitor I would instruct Chris on the basis of his impressive website and the fact that in 4 years I have never read an adverse comment about him on this forum.

[Incredulous]

Also this man being charged is not an option also. Would love to know how you did this work yourself.

Thanks for your advice so far. Much Appreciated

[Incredulous]

Thanks. Was that Gerry McDonald or Chris ?

[Casehardened]

I just want to know that pre being charged is there any point in engaging a solicitor to do some detective work on someone's defense or us it a complete waste of money?

The family are scraping every penny together to help him, no one in the family is wealthy, but he won't be entitled to legal aid. So is this a waste of money or beneficial to him being possibly charged? Will it make any difference to the outcome of being charged or not?

OK, I'm going to come down firmly on the fence on this one! From time to time we get members regretting their choice of legal representation after a trial has taken place and usually (but not always) charging will lead to a trial.

Many members (and solicitors) consider there is no point in worrying unless charging occurs but if (and it's a big if!) he is charged and convicted would you and the family then regret not having sought pre-charge advice even if this has to be funded....the decision has to be yours (and everyone's experiences are different)

You might wonder what I would do if I were in your position: what I did do was to extensively research the CPS procedures and criteria for charging, collated all the background information on my accuser and passed any relevant material to my OIC together with any evidence which refuted the allegations.

Many members will say this is completely the wrong thing to do, and who am I to disagree with that viewpoint, all I can say it worked for me in that I wasn't charged. In my particular circumstances to go to trial was not an option so I was extremely anxious to avoid being charged.

I felt competent to undertake the pre-charge research myself so didn't engage a solicitor to do this but had my case gone to charge I would have then used the firm that has been most recommended on the thread I link to in my previous post.

[Incredulous]

Hy thanks. But no inference was intentionally made about anyone.

I just want to know that pre being charged is there any point in engaging a solicitor to do some detective work on someone's defense or us it a complete waste of money?

The family are scraping every penny together to help him, no one in the family is wealthy, but he won't be entitled to legal aid. So is this a waste of money or beneficial to him being possibly charged? Will it make any difference to the outcome of being charged or not?

Thanks for your inputs everyone

[Casehardened]

Hi Incredulous

I would be very suspicious of anyone who suggests they can influence pre charge the decision made by the CPS. In my experience the Police/ CPS only consider the evidence they want to look at rather than the whole picture regardless of what is offered to them. Are you sure this advice came from a solicitor and not a middle man type who claims to specialize in these cases ?

The advice came from Casehardened in the post above FrightenedSpouse. Or am I misreading it?

LOL, if I've understood your inference correctly, I am not the mysterious 'middle man' referred to by Frightened Spouse. I won't name names as another of our members is currently in dispute with him for just this, however if you google 'falsely accused of rape' you are quite likely to come across his website. The website makes a number of claims but careful study reveals that an introduction fee has to be paid in return for a referral to an appropriate solicitor.

Hence my suggestion that if you wish to be pro-active in his defence pre-charge (and are able to fund privately) you may as well approach a specialist solicitor directly and save paying this introduction fee.

However if you wish do this you must pick a good solicitor, not just someone who claims to be good. Again, in fairness I shouldn't make any direct recommendations but if you peruse the thread where members have posted of their experiences with various firms you will note that some names come up again and again.

http://www.daftmoo.org.uk/mooforum/s...ist-solicitors

If you do decide to go down this route please feel free to post up the name of the solicitor you are considering for further opinions on their suitability.

[Incredulous]

Note that this is my opinion only and it would be best to clarify this with the solicitor he selects but I suspect that if the solicitor undertakes pre-charge investigations 'and unearths a good defence against the allegation and lets the CPS know this informally and without disclosing the exact details then the CPS will take this into consideration when deciding whether or not to run with the prosecution.'

At the very least they will be aware that there is going to be a robust and funded defence!

I feel that if he has the available funds then there is nothing to lose by starting the ball rolling now (but please choose the solicitor carefully or the money may be wasted.....peruse the specialists solicitors thread carefully for other members recommendations)

The advice came from Casehardened in the post above FrightenedSpouse. Or am I misreading it?

[Casehardened]

really sorry - Incredulous - but my thoughts and those of Casehardened are completely different. He has been here a lot longer than me.....so sorry I may have added to your confusion...

Don't worry, I did stress in my reply that it was in my opinion only and certainly if funds are limited it is probably better to utilise them post-charge than pre-charge,......despite my earlier advice no solicitor can actually guarantee to stop the CPS bringing a charge.