Sexual assault by taxi driver
Andrew Dikha acted on behalf of a taxi driver who was arrested and bail refused in relation to an allegation of aggravated sexual assault, detaining a person for sexual advantage and indecent assault of a female passenger in a park in Marayong and was looking at a minimum of 10 years in prison.
The allegation against the accused involved were the taxi driver picked up a fare, disregarding directions provided, turned into a park for some time, covered the in car taxi security camera with a cloth and locked the female in the vehicle and then sexually assaulted her.
An application for bail was made at the Supreme Court of NSW with success.
The Crown relied on a new satellite tracking system that had only recently been introduced in the taxi industry to show the movements of the taxi and obtained inconclusive DNA evidence.
Andrew Dikha obtained crucial CCTV footage from a near by location which was not obtained by police despite the detective in charge of the prosecution stating to the Court during cross-examination that a thorough investigation of the surrounding areas for CCTV was conducted.
The CCTV footage was played in Court to the Jury shortly after the accused finalised his evidence which evidenced that the alleged victim had lied about her route of escape from the accused’s vehicle.
The accused’s arrest was also challenged pursuant to S99 Law Enforcement (Powers & Responsibilities) Act also known as LEPRA.
The Jury aquitted the accused by handing a Jury note to the Judge before the defence case closed.
William Dawe QC, assisted by Paul Bodisco were retained by the firm for trial.
William Dawe QC commented “In my 33 years at the bar, this was the first time I have experienced an acquittal by way of Jury note in a sexual assault trial and it was quite evident that the CCTV footage obtained by [Andrew Dikha] played a significant role amongst the Jury”.
MEDIA
1. http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/taxi-driver-accused-of-raping-female-passenger-20100313-q4pf.html
