· The State couldn’t prove an essential legal element of the case.
· The Judge had a doubt about the evidence.
· An important piece of documentary evidence went missing.
· An important piece of documentary evidence was used incorrectly.
· The Garda lost his notebook.
· The defendant was charged with the incorrect charge.
· The defendant was charged with an offence unknown under law (typographical error on summons).
· Legal guidelines not followed.
· Wrong doctor consulted.
· No doctor consulted.
· Judge felt it was unsafe to convict.
· Garda had resigned.
The last one- a Garda resigning- is a major issue in courts across Ireland today.
I'll return to it later.
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The list above contains some of the many reasons why drink driving cases can be dismissed in court.
Everybody was over the limit.
One person was 6 times over the limit.
They had crashed their car into 2 parked cars and landed on the roof.
They were acquitted.
Do you know what one of the main reasons
for drink driving cases being dismissed today is?
The Garda in the case has resigned.
The State have withdrawn about 5 drink driving prosecutions
against clients of mine around the country in the last year because a Garda involved in the case has resigned.
This is unprecedented.
In each of the cases mentioned above the prosecution was ultimately dismissed.
In about half the cases the dismissal of the prosecution case had nothing to do with a legal issue or an evidential issue.
It had nothing to do with the fact that person was over the limit: they all were.
It had to do with something else, something unconnected to the trial itself.
This is the reality of court.
Its also a reality of life.
Contrary to popular opinion, in life, accidents and chance are common.
Unusual outcomes are the rule.
____________________
DO YOU KNOW WHAT one of the main reasons for drink driving cases being dismissed today is?
The Garda in the case has resigned.
The State have withdrawn about 5 drink driving prosecutions against clients of mine around the country in the last year because a Garda involved in the case has resigned.
This is unprecedented.
Last week I spoke to a Garda who privately told me that he was aware of 3 Gardai locally who had quit the organisation and joined the private sector.
One of them had 19 years’ service.
The other two had 8 and 10 years’ service.
One of my own cases recently was adjourned because a female Garda had resigned. The sergeant in the case told me that she had had 16 years of service.
She resigned -like many of the others- because she had become sickened by Garda Management’s relentless attacks on the rank and file.
Being a Garda today means being subjected to the ongoing threat of internal investigations for often trivial issues.
They are not quitting because “it’s a tough job”, as the public often believe.
They’re quitting because of management issues.
The rate of resignations, which started as a trickle, has now become a flood.
You'd be aware of this if you read about it in what passes for media in this country.
But you don't.
I wish all of these men and women the very best in their lives ahead.
None of the reasons why cases collapsed are “technicalities”.
Technicalities don't exist.
That's just a word made-up by the media.
These are accidents and chance.
They don’t happen in every case, but they do happen.
When they do, they can completely alter the outcome of a case.
Maybe even helping you snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.