WA If you can answer this, cause lawyer cant

[Helen001]

While lawyers agree he shouldn't be in jail, no one seems to know how to get him out. Let me try and explain. And he's desperate to get out.

Ex partner was arrested with 5g meth. So naturally he's charged with poss wiss. There's only the drugs. No bags, scales, absolutely nothing else but the drugs.
He was at the time of arrest on an intensive supervision order due to being sentenced 6 months prior for 105g cannibus.
He was sent straight out to the prison after arrest for the meth. Approximately 5 weeks after arrest he's given bail. A week and a half into bail he fails a drug test and is sent back to prison. He's been in prison since. So it's coming up for almost 8 months since he was arrested.
His next court date is 23rd November where it's listed for a trial hearing. Trial? He's never once been asked in court if he's guilty or not guilty. Now there's a trial hearing in district court.
Magistrates court said she wasn't giving him bail again but would push it up to district court, which didn't happen.
So how does he get out, get bail, get anything? He's lost his early plea % even though he's never been asked to plead. Does he just wait till 23rd Nov when it will then be almost 9 months in prison on remand? His lawyer says nothing, when you're lucky enough to get hold of him.
What, if anything can he do to either get bail or get out. He's always been going to plead guilty, if he's ever asked.
It seems ridiculous that after this long he's still in remand custody.

 

[xshellsx78]

I was in a similar situation with a partner having this problem afew years ago. I was pulling my hair out and trying to learn criminal law to be able to understand what was happening. The issue was that he was also on different charges which occurred on several different dates and included breach of bail etc. The court seems to bundle everything all in to court appearance .. so when my partner was in court for what he thought was a particular charge (and what was listed on the court list as the charge being dealt with that day) actually wasn’t even in front of the magistrate.
Then when the charges were a bit more serious.. they were transferred over to the district court because magistrate court doesn’t deal with those charges. But district court doesn’t deal with the smaller charges.
I worked out that the magistrate court usually prefers to wait until district court matter have been dealt with and finalised because they are more important and once that is done the magistrate court will then deal with the bail breaches and the lesser charges. As for finding a lawyer that seems to know what’s going on - I think that is only what happens on tv!
My partner then had been in jail for 7 months for breaching bail, released on home detention which he was out for 3 months then failed a test and was back in hard cells for a long weekend until court gave him a chance at home d again. He was on home d in total for 19 months and the 7 months jail time. Once he was sentenced the judge does not have to adhere to any guideline on how much time to discount from his time on home d. I then found out that it is up to the judge and if he decides not to count home d as time served in any capacity then that’s his right! The judge said the 19 months of home d would be discounted as 3 months!
Hope this maybe helps. Let me know how you and your partner go if you like.

 

[Helen001]

He went to court and lawyer tells judge he pleads not guilty, then judge asks lawyer if his client wants bail. Lawyer said no! That lawyer got sacked that day.
He gets new lawyer and goes for sentencing. DPP tells the judge he's spent 33 days in custody! Judge stands down court while it's figured out. DPP is sorry, she didn't have her glasses on and he's actual spent two hundred and something days in custody.
Judge says the drugs were obviously for personal use but that the sentence she's going to give him will serve as a deterrent to others ( like they will Google his name and be ohhh I better not do drugs ). So she sentences him to 2 years and 4 months, eligible for parole. He put in his parole plan today and is eligible for parole June 7. He's been a model prisoner and hopefully will get out on parole, also having a job to go to.