VIC Found Guilty of Larceny - Police Officer Had It In For Me?

[Ryan smith]

Back in 1994, I was found guilty for larceny as a servant.
It was based on evidence from a 16year old girl that the lead police officer had a relationship with.
With no evidence, I was found guilty in the local court. After I was charged I lost my mind a bit & drove while disqualified, now from that I got weekend detention to which I missed 3 times due to I was still employed by state rail.
On my appeal to the district court, I was told by prosecutor that district court is different & they have gone through transcripts & I would win my appeal. The officer knew this & found out about my missed weekend detention. He told me if I went to court I would be arrested & put in jail & wouldn't matter if I won. I've blocked this out for 20 years until this has affected my life, what can I do?

By the way I was innocent & this officer knew that & was after a promotion it was corrupt all the way through.

 

[Sarah J]

Hi Ryan,

This is quite a complicated matter. It is further complicated by the fact that (i) this happened 20 years ago, meaning that evidence would have been lost and witnesses' memories fail (so credibility of oral evidence and recollection issues); and (ii) your conviction in the local court was not appealed against and so there is little evidence at the moment to show your innocence (this would need to be decided by court). You should be aware that if you lodge a complaint against the police, both these factors would be unfavourable to your case.

Given the complexity, you should contact a criminal lawyer. You may approach Victorian Legal Aid and/or your local community legal centre first for preliminary advice, however, they may be limited in the help they're able to give. Further, you need to ask yourself what do you want out of this? Is it financial, is it a lifting of the conviction, or is it more psychological (e.g. apology, recognition of misconduct)? As yourself whether getting this outcome, if you do get it, will be worth the effort/time/costs involved, and whether it will help you move on from this period of your life.

If you do wish to make a complaint against the police, you may read:

• Complaints against victorian police
• Victorian Police page: complaints

Note that the officer complained of will be informed of your complaint.

Your complaint about police conduct is itself a separate issue from your conviction. A positive finding of police misconduct will not lift your conviction. You will still need to appeal against that separately. However, a finding of misconduct or breach of criminal procedure will help in your conviction appeal.

I am not familiar with any other avenues that may help you. Hopefully someone else on LawAnswers or from Legal Aid will be able to point you in further directions.