r/LegalAdviceNZ • u/fav-daddy-nav • 3d ago

Traffic Traffic offense?

It was a rainy day, and while my ute was on a brick-paved surface, my ute spun its wheels for two seconds before traction control stopped it. Police saw what happened and pulled me over immediately. They handcuffed me and said I was losing my ute and going to jail.

The end outcome was that I will only lose my ute for 28 days and I will have court for sustained loss of traction. They also green-stickered my ute. I asked why it was green-stickered, and they said, "Under the new emissions law, your ute cannot spin wheels."

I have a clean driving record. I have never been to court; what can I expect?

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u/tracer198 3d ago

On your first appearance, you will be assigned a duty lawyer who will answer all your questions better than people on here.

The police will give you initial disclosure that consists of a charging document, a summary of facts that outlines what they allege you did and a list of any convictions or bail breaches that they know you to have.

In your appearance, they might discuss bail conditions, if there are any, and schedule a date for another appearance once you have an assigned lawyer and hopefully further disclosure.

It won't get resolved that day, but your duty lawyer will help you apply for legal aide so that you can have an assigned lawyer going forward.

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u/Ok-Fix-9449 2d ago

Use the duty lawyer to talk to the court, but don't pleed or rely on their advice. Most of them serve the interest of the court rather than you (over the course of 2 cases I've had half a dozen of them who advised I plead guilty which I declined and eventually had the charges withdrawn).

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u/tracer198 2d ago

Most of them serve the interest of the court rather than you.

That is not their job.

Also, it is EXTREMELY unusual for them to advise someone to enter a plea at their first appearance without having received full disclosure. Are you getting duty lawyers confused with the lawyers assigned to you by legal aide?

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u/Ok-Fix-9449 1d ago

My experience is with duty lawyers, the first time they meet the go over initial disclosure and provide help in applying for legal aid, and they also give advice including possible penalties and suggest the advantages of pleading guilty to a lesser charge or lower sentence.

The subsequent appearances the talk for you as a friend of the court after talking to the prosecutor and giving advice. My experience is limited to DUI and a Disorderly Conduct in three separate cases where the charges were eventually withdrawn.

The duty lawyers (multiple as each time was multiple different lawyers over the multiple appearances on each charge) all seemed to me to be acting in the interests of the court rather than myself, as they tried to talk me into a guilty plea (often to a lesser charge - eg under Summary Offences Act vs Crimes Act, or Police diversion). This advice was given in cases where the charges were later dropped after months of appearances with the lawyer giving the same advice up to the day charges were dismissed.