Case note: attending a record of interview

The proposed charges

Before any charge was laid, police indicated they wished to interview our client as a person of interest, and that they intended to charge him with:

• one count of burglary;
• one count of wilful damage;
• two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm; and
• one count of choking, suffocation or strangulation in a domestic setting under section 315A of the Criminal Code (Qld).

Police also indicated they intended to oppose bail and have him remanded in custody. A temporary domestic violence order had already been made against him before our involvement.

The background

The allegations arose from an incident at a residence where our client was a tenant. Following a relationship breakdown, he returned to the premises and was refused entry by a third party. He entered forcefully, and it was alleged that a person was injured in the process.

It was then alleged that a further incident occurred inside the residence involving our client, his partner and several other people, and that he had assaulted multiple people and, most seriously, strangled his partner.

The decision about the interview

The starting position in Queensland is that you are not obliged to participate in a record of interview, and in the great majority of cases you should not participate without advice.

This matter was one where, after engaging with police and assessing the position, the advice was that participating was in the client’s interests. The alternative on the information available was arrest and a remand application on the full set of proposed charges.

That advice was possible only because a lawyer had spoken to police first and understood what was actually alleged. It is not a general rule and it should not be read as one.

A solicitor from our office attended the interview with the client, intervened where necessary to clarify what was being put, and gave advice during it. Time was then spent with police after the interview on the charges that would follow.

The result

Following the interview and those discussions, our client was charged with one count of wilful damage and one count of assault occasioning bodily harm relating to the third party. The more serious proposed charges were not laid.

He was issued with notices to appear rather than being taken into custody, so no remand application was required.

Every matter turns on its own facts. Whether participating in an interview is in your interests depends entirely on what is alleged, what police already have, and what you would say. In most matters the safer course is to say nothing until you have advice, and nothing here indicates what would happen in another case.

Our page on domestic violence offences covers charges of this kind, and bail applications covers what happens if you are held.