New South Wales Police Force

Question

I've got to go to court. The police who arrested me wrote their statements and quite frankly, their statements are incorrect. Of course I am going to say that coz it's them versus me, but I am dead set telling the truth - THEY are lying!

The opening paragraph from their statement says (words to this effect) "I understand that should this be found to be false information then I will be prosocuted".

So I want to know: Do I have to say I want the cops charged or does the judge automatically begin the prosocutiong process against the officers (once they have been found guilty of making false statements)?

The only reason I don't want to sue the cops is coz of time & money factors...but I don't want them to walk away as if nothing happened...I still want them to "pay" in some way for all this c**p they've put me through for the past 3 months......

Answer 1

Magistrates (You're at Local Court, you don't get a Judge champ) don't prosecute people, Police bring prosecutions before the Court.

The Magistrates role is to find a decision based on whether the prosecution (the Police) can prove the matter beyond a reasonable doubt.

If your entire defence rests on stating "the Police are lying" then I wish you good luck.

When's the matter due to be heard? A bried has to be served no less than 14 days prior to the hearing date. That said, that doesn't mean it's automatically thrown out or dismissed etc.

To directly answer your question it's a straight out "no". If the Magistrate finds the Police evidence isn't truthfull the matter can be dismissed, but they don't seek to then have charges brought against the Police. That's an internal Police matter. Good luck with that angle as your defence...