prosecutor witness?

Question

I once was charged with fraud and i had gone through diversion (which means no criminal record and no jail sentence, the only thing i got is $300 fine and an apologies letter). I was then asked by the prosecutor to be their witness. What i have done so far is : i had been to the committal and the judge had ruled my evidence as valid, and so the defendants are due to appear in court in late 2007 for trial and the trail will last for one month. I am now working full time oveaseas and the prosecutor actually contacted me via email and he also contacted my old friends to get my phone number and asked me to be back to australia to be their witness.

I am wondering, since i did not have any undertaking, am i obliged to attend the trial? What if they send me the subponea? Under what circumstances will i be obliged to attend?

thanks for all your input!

Answer 1

You better go to court. Here's my take on this.

If you paid a "fine" you sustained a conviction of some type. I suspect that you entered into some level of plea bargain with the prosecutor. My experience with these kind of cases is that you likely agreed to testify in exhcange for a good deal or dismissal on your part. If you fail to live up to your end of the deal, the prosecutor may be able to make a motion to have your side of the deal pulled and you may face more serious prosecution.

IF you decide to not testify, you better hire yourself a lawyer and make sure that not testifying will not result in you going to jail.

Answer 2

Email him back and explain your situation.
Stress to him the cost of the travel and the hardship that it would cause.
Ask him if he could order you to take a deposition locally. They could be used in court in lieu of your attendence (attendance?).
GOOD LUCK!
If they still demand that you go, please do.
You will be surprised how accomidating your new boss will be and since he did you a huge favor, you owe him what you said you would do.
He might have based his case on the others based on your testimony. He probably wont be too happy if you renig on your end of the deal and he might be just tricky enough to 'undo' what he promised. If that is the case, you might be fired from your current job and on and on.
I would go if the deposition thing didnt work.

Answer 3

I wouldn't take most anyone's answer here as LEGAL truth. This depends on many things. "Justice" shouldn't expect this, or demand this of you, but who said justice is just? My own attorney said it's not! & wow have I learned he was right. If it comes to that, you really need legal counsel. (Ho ho) No, really, there are some attorneys you can "trust." I certainly wouldn't take it on alone.

Answer 4

You are.