How should defendant behave in Court?

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pat127

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A young acquaintance in time-honoured fashion over-indulged in strong liquor and treated a taxi-driver most shamefully, to wit he refused to pay him. Naturally he was arrested and now faces a court appearance.

He can't afford to hire a Solicitor (his fond Mammy and Daddy probably can but they're being kept in the dark about the matter). He anticipates being fined and wants to know how best to present himself, in terms of appearance, attitude etc. Should he apologise or otherwise demonstrate remorse for his dastardly deeds etc?

What say you?
 
OK, I've never so much as even observed a court appearance personally, let alone been involved in one, so what I say could be a load of codswallop, but I would imagine neat and tidy appearance (shirt/nice pants/cleanshaven and tidy at the minimum), a lot of remorse and shame, perhaps an offer to pay the amount outstanding to taxi driver plus a few bob over and above/donation to the "poor box" (judge may impose a fine anyway so best to offer it beforehand if possible to show remorse?), plus a sincere apology for his "out of character" behaviour, and an undertaking to demostrate better future behaviour would go a pretty decent way - at least the judge will see that he's not the type that will be up before him/her week after week for drunken/disorderly/abusive behaviour and it was a genuinely "out-of-character" lack of judgement on the young person's behalf.
 
pat127 said:
He can't afford to hire a Solicitor
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If he is in employment & can afford to go on the beer and get taxis home, he can afford a solicitor.

He can probably afford a solicitor more than he can afford a possibly needless conviction.
 
ubiquitous said:
If he is in employment & can afford to go on the beer and get taxis home, he can afford a solicitor.

He can probably afford a solicitor more than he can afford a possibly needless conviction.
Click to expand...

I would strongly agree with this. Does he realise that if he receives a criminal conviction that this will rule him out of certain occupations and even curtail his future travelling? He'd be better off to own up to his mother and father before they see it in the local paper anyway. If he is pleading guilty the solicitors fee will be most reasonable and well worth while if it can prevent a criminal prosecution.
 
I concur. Exactly the same situation occurred recently to a client's off spring where the Gardai and the Court took a very dim view of the behaviour and rightly so. Young lad was very embarrassed but did not seem to think it was any big deal and opted to deal with it himself without Ma and Pa or solicitor. Big mistake. Eventually realised probably (a) better tell Ma and Pa and (b) better to get a decent experienced solicitor to wise him up as to possible horrid consequences and properly represent his interests in Court.

Its not a lark.

mf
 
Dress smartly but not too suave ( ie not a king pin attitude)

Definately get a solicitor - if neccessary can arrange to pay the fee in instalments.

Use MOM and POP's legal eagle - if over 18, solr will be able to deal with the person individually (ie not be obliged to tell POPs) and will also have some loyalty to the client and a sense of his background (to help the court case) due to the family connection. And would possibly accept installments of fee.

But yes - if young guy is earning - and if he can see the genuine error of his ways - should be willing to clear his fee asap.

Maybe should try AA or some counselling around his drinking. And do it before the court appearance to let the judge know he is seriously addressing the problem. I dunno if taxi-man was out of order and thus the refusal to pay - but if the young guy turned kind of Jekyll and HYde through alcohol and had no basis for not paying - then he needs some alcohol abuse counselling I would think.

hope he does sort it out in a positive and healthy way.
 
I accompanied younger sibling to court last year - he'd been an idiot and was caught drink driving (while disqualified for a previous offence which he hadn't told family about).

I would agree with all of the above very valuable suggestions - get a solicitor, tell family (it will devastate them but will only be a 9-day wonder). In terms of the lad's behaviour on the day, I'd suggest dress smartly (to show the lad is taking the court seriously), no "bravado" behaviour, and follow all the instructions of the solicitor - after all he/she's been there before.

I'd also suggest the lad brings a family member to court as support - there's nothing worse than hanging around waiting to be called if you've got no-one to talk to, walk with, etc. Family member support (as opposed to a "buddy") shows that the lad is taking the matter seriously and is taking responsibility for his actions (at least I felt that was the case when I accompanied sibling).
 
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