Falsely accused

[imsam]

I have no idea to be honest Imsam, there are no hard and fast rules. A lot would depend on whether they need to talk to the accuser again or whether she comes forward with more information on her own. It's certainly not unusual for a complainant to have several interviews with the story changing each time but a single interview may be enough if is plausible.

It is not up to the complainant whether to proceed or press charges or not, that is solely the decision of the cps. Once a statement has been made it cannot be unmade unless the accuser makes a new statement admitting that the first one wasn't true. This would mean her admitting wasting police time or perverting the course of justice which although unlikely to be prosecuted these days may get her into some trouble of her own and she may feel pressured by the police to proceed. If this is the case she will need to get her own solicitor.

it's not uncommon though for an accuser to change their mind and refuse to cooperate with a prosecution and in these circumstances the trial would not normally go ahead.

As you haven't been charged there is every hope that the case will be NFA'd. There is every possibility she has been interviewed again and been inconsistent with facts and undermined the case but you cannot know what has been happening unless there is a charge.

Thank you so much Peter for such a prompt reply . That's what I'm worried about that she won't want to get into trouble for backing down and so she sticks to her story .( this is someone else's thread so I wont ask more ,but just wanted to thank you)

[Franticwithworry]

Your solicitor will know how to get the evidence you need and anything that the prosecution have - eg your phone - will be available to you too.They are supposed to disclose all the evidence they have in good time, but sometimes they hold it back and solicitors have to chase it up for you. Just make sure that the solicitor knows about everything that you want to have access to.

[Bob1234]

i belive i have a piece of evidence on my mobile device that can back my case up - a selfie during the night out. the police however have my possessions from that night. now that i have been charged, i feel i can use that picture as evidence... how do i get it (phone isn't linked to iCloud or anything). do i tell my potential sol? will the police help in that instance?

i belive cctv will also help as it was on a night out. this may be in the cps's "evidence" but how would i get it to back my story up? would i have to get all this myself? or whatever was found by the OIC be given for me to use to (or is that to naive of me to believe they will give it over)

Bob

[Peter1975]

Hi Peter, Are you saying here that sometimes the case goes to the CPS without the police talking to the FA again ? I was hoping they would question her once more before finally making a decision whether to go forward or not. As far as I know the girl was only questioned at the time she went to the police station and since then ( one year ago) as far as I know no one else has been interviewed ( people at the party) I was hoping that as the time has passed the FA may have changed her mind about proceeding ( I think she only said what she said as she felt guilty about having sex at the party with me and to save face), but its concerning me that it may go all the way to trial without the OIC talking again to the FA . as she has most probably put it right out of her mind and is having a great time with her boy friend . So do you think that it could go forward without her being interviewed again?

I have no idea to be honest Imsam, there are no hard and fast rules. A lot would depend on whether they need to talk to the accuser again or whether she comes forward with more information on her own. It's certainly not unusual for a complainant to have several interviews with the story changing each time but a single interview may be enough if is plausible.

It is not up to the complainant whether to proceed or press charges or not, that is solely the decision of the cps. Once a statement has been made it cannot be unmade unless the accuser makes a new statement admitting that the first one wasn't true. This would mean her admitting wasting police time or perverting the course of justice which although unlikely to be prosecuted these days may get her into some trouble of her own and she may feel pressured by the police to proceed. If this is the case she will need to get her own solicitor.

it's not uncommon though for an accuser to change their mind and refuse to cooperate with a prosecution and in these circumstances the trial would not normally go ahead.

As you haven't been charged there is every hope that the case will be NFA'd. There is every possibility she has been interviewed again and been inconsistent with facts and undermined the case but you cannot know what has been happening unless there is a charge.

[Peter1975]

Hi Guys,

sorry just to clear up nobody sent me across that recommendation. it was just me browsing the net yesterday and looking around. you are right everyone will try and sell themselves as the experts when they probably aren't.

sorry if i caused any issue in the post above. i have a couple from he recommended sticky and will be in contact with them tomorrow and take things from there.

Thank you all for your help too each one of you. without you guys i don't know what state i would be in

Bob

No worries Bob. There have been some rare cases of posters that seem to only join to promote solicitors. The most blatant example relates to a "legal enquiry agent" and the firm he was tied to "RG". - Notorious in the groups for promoting themselves as specialists with very high success rates but posters who have used them have been less than satisfied and paid through the nose for the privilege.

[ This might be a good opportunity to ask anybody reading to report any unsolicited PM's or emails from non posters to the mods - be safe on daftmoo]

I did have a look at the link you posted and i couldn't see any sexual cases on his page at all.

Try Keith and Harvey Fox.

[imsam]

You did the right thing Bob... Who passed that name on to you? - If you received it via PM on daftmoo can you report it to the admin please. Nobody respectable would PM a recommended solicitor. That's not to say that the guy isn't any good but his reputation is zero on here and will remain so unless someone posts up, preferably not with a brand new account and a reference so glowing it could have been written by their own mothers....

yes, it's always possible for a case to be thrown out, or more accurately, for the cps to decide to offer no evidence before trial. Most often this is because the complainant withdraws their cooperation but can also happen when the prosecutor finally gets around to reading the full defence case statement or speaks to the accuser and decides they are not "a witness of truth"...

Defence can also put in for "a half time submission" usually in cases where the issue has been consent and the accuser so discredited under X examination that the judge can be persuaded that there is no case to answer or the charges are no longer safe to put before a jury.... in all these scenarios a formal NG will be entered.

Off the top of my head 37% of unsuccessful prosecutions are when the cps offer no evidence so it is quite common.

Stats here :

http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/d...eport_2016.pdf

Hi Peter, Are you saying here that sometimes the case goes to the CPS without the police talking to the FA again ? I was hoping they would question her once more before finally making a decision whether to go forward or not. As far as I know the girl was only questioned at the time she went to the police station and since then ( one year ago) as far as I know no one else has been interviewed ( people at the party) I was hoping that as the time has passed the FA may have changed her mind about proceeding ( I think she only said what she said as she felt guilty about having sex at the party with me and to save face), but its concerning me that it may go all the way to trial without the OIC talking again to the FA . as she has most probably put it right out of her mind and is having a great time with her boy friend . So do you think that it could go forward without her being interviewed again?

[Bob1234]

Hi Guys,

sorry just to clear up nobody sent me across that recommendation. it was just me browsing the net yesterday and looking around. you are right everyone will try and sell themselves as the experts when they probably aren't.

sorry if i caused any issue in the post above. i have a couple from he recommended sticky and will be in contact with them tomorrow and take things from there.

Thank you all for your help too each one of you. without you guys i don't know what state i would be in

Bob

[Peter1975]

Hi,

just doing a search for Sol's. does anyone have any experience with, or know of this Sol - Akthar Ahmed AVB http://www.abvsolicitors.co.uk/the-t.../akhtar-ahmad/

i know he is from London, and i have indicted the Midlands as my location but i have had this passed to me and just checking up on it.

Also can a case be thrown out before it even goes to court? what are the chances of that and the implications?

Thank you
Bob

You did the right thing Bob... Who passed that name on to you? - If you received it via PM on daftmoo can you report it to the admin please. Nobody respectable would PM a recommended solicitor. That's not to say that the guy isn't any good but his reputation is zero on here and will remain so unless someone posts up, preferably not with a brand new account and a reference so glowing it could have been written by their own mothers....

yes, it's always possible for a case to be thrown out, or more accurately, for the cps to decide to offer no evidence before trial. Most often this is because the complainant withdraws their cooperation but can also happen when the prosecutor finally gets around to reading the full defence case statement or speaks to the accuser and decides they are not "a witness of truth"...

Defence can also put in for "a half time submission" usually in cases where the issue has been consent and the accuser so discredited under X examination that the judge can be persuaded that there is no case to answer or the charges are no longer safe to put before a jury.... in all these scenarios a formal NG will be entered.

Off the top of my head 37% of unsuccessful prosecutions are when the cps offer no evidence so it is quite common.

Stats here :

http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/d...eport_2016.pdf

[Rights Fighter]

I have absolutely no idea who he is.

If you post up any more I probably won't be able to help with opinion on other sols.

You need to be aware that some sols will set themselves up as experts in the false allegation field, and they will have all sorts of "testimonials" to entice clients in - although they would probably be private client with not many provable notable cases. Some will list names and courts but there's no way of knowing whether those are true.

[Bob1234]

Hi,

just doing a search for Sol's. does anyone have any experience with, or know of this Sol - Akthar Ahmed AVB http://www.abvsolicitors.co.uk/the-t.../akhtar-ahmad/

i know he is from London, and i have indicted the Midlands as my location but i have had this passed to me and just checking up on it.

Also can a case be thrown out before it even goes to court? what are the chances of that and the implications?

Thank you
Bob

[Peter1975]

Although based in london I was told Freemans will cover a rape trial anywhere in England or Wales. If Keith isn't available you could try giving Harvey Fox a ring.

http://www.freemanssolicitors.net/si...ile/harvey_fox

It would probably mean them sending a local agent for the magistrates and the PTPH. Paul Legg is the trial solicitor you would want to get.

http://www.freemanssolicitors.net/si...file/paul_legg

Or Kishoree Kotecha-Pau -

http://www.freemanssolicitors.net/si...ee_kotecha_pau

There are a couple of sols used by daftmoo members in the midlands on the stickied thread but I would go with RF's recommendations if you can.

Don't panic, magistrates will be at least a couple of weeks away, probably longer and it's nothing to worry about, it will be a 5 minute hearing.

Keep posting for support.

[Rights Fighter]

For the Birmingham area I don't know of any other decent LA solicitors - doesn't' mean there aren't any, just that I don't know of them.

Chris Saltrese is private client only and he works nationally. He's brilliant.

[Bob1234]

Thank you both for your advice!

RF apart from Keith and Chris, is there anyone else you/ or anyone else here would recommend?

Bob

[Rights Fighter]

how do i pick the right one if that is still possible? do i ask them questions etc or just go off recommendations on here?

as its a Friday and the weekend coming up will this slow down a choice?

Probably closed now but there is nothing to stop you ringing just in case he's in the office. You could also email him so he can pick it up either over the weekend, if he checks his work emails then, and if you get no joy ring first thing Monday.

[Franticwithworry]

It's nothing like the TV. Forget any crime show you ever watched.

You should get disclosure at the Magistrates hearing, but have an idea of what you expect to see so that if there's anything not there that you want you can ask your solicitor to chase it up for you. Don't forget it's up to YOU to build the case. The solicitor doesn't do any investigating and you have to provide him with the information that you want him to use. He will guide you as to what will help and what will not, but you have to tell him your story and provide the evidence, where possible, to back it up. He will help you with getting technical stuff like CCTV or expert witnesses if they apply in your case.

You need to instruct a solicitor soon, but not right this minute. Finding one over the next week or so will be fine, depending on the date of the Magistrates Hearing. Nothing much happens then, it's generally over in about 10 minutes or so, but you do need to have a solicitor to attend with you so you will need to have met with him a few days before. When you feel a bit calmer, take a look at the sticky thread on here which has recommendations and RF may come back with something yet. Main things are do they have experience of false allegations - not just sexual crime - and how much experience do they have. Someone fresh out of training isn't a good idea, you need someone with a few years under their belt. Also, what does your gut feeling tell you? Are they calming to talk to? Do they tell you things as they are without promising you the earth or frightening you rigid.

Needing Legal Aid isn't necessarily a bad thing, there are some brilliant lawyers who do legal aid, but again, go with recommendations on here if you can. If there are 2 or 3 in your area, talk to them all, and make your choice on how you feel about them as well as their credentials.

Above all, don't try to cross all your bridges at once. There is time for all this.