Character Witness

[Myriad2112]

Mrs M has been asked by her niece to be a character witness in a drink driving case. She is looking for a reason not to. Would I be right to think that you cannot submit such evidence as a family member in a UK court?

[boxtops]

Yes, you are right, a character reference cannot come from a family member.

[boxtops]

This link lists people she could ask instead of Mrs M. http://www.legalaid.wa.gov.au/InformationAboutTheLaw/crime/appearing/Pages/ReferencesForCourt.aspx

[Buenchico]

That's an Australian web page, Boxtops.

[boxtops]

Apologies, I didn't look at the full URL, sorry myriad.

[Buenchico]

It's not clear from the question as to whether Mr's M's niece is pleading 'not guilty' and seeking a witness to support that plea or whether she's simply seeking a character reference for sentencing purposes.

A court would normally only permit the use of a 'character witness' in a drink-driving trial if their evidence might show that the defendant would (for example) never touch alcohol (and that, therefore, their submission that their orange juice was spiked with vodka was probably true). e.g a devout Muslim might call upon his Imam to testify that he would rather die than drink alcohol. Other than in similar circumstances, I can think of no reason why 'character evidence' would be permitted within a drink-driving trial.

If a 'character reference' is required solely with respect to sentencing, then anyone (including family members) can submit such a reference but the court would almost certainly give less weight to a reference from a family member than to one from, say, an employer. Further, such references are usually submitted in writing, rather than by attendance at court:
http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_8162314_write-character-reference-court.html

[Myriad2112]

Thank you all. Beunchico. I believe that she has no choice but to plead guilty. We all think she deserves whatever is coming to her. While we are on the subject of sentencing. What do you think a likely outcome might be for having an accident (no third party envolved) while being three times over the limit and having children in the car?

[Buenchico]

For drink-driving offences where the level of alcohol was between 90 and 119µg in a breath sample (or 207 to 275 ml in a blood sample or 275 to 366 ml in a urine sample) the sentencing range is between a low level Community Order and a high level one. The presence of children in the car will put 'culpability' in the 'high' category, thus pushing sentencing towards a 'high level' order (as will the accident) but an early guilty plea can see sentencing reduced. However it works out, a Community Order of some sort (which basically means attending probation meetings and/or courses and possibly some unpaid work) seems to be likely.

That level of alcohol means a ban of between 23 and 28 months, so a 2 year ban would seem to be likely. See page 124 here:
http://sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/MCSG_(web)_-_July_2014.pdf

[New Judge]

Yes, Buenchico has got the sentencing options near enough spot on.

You should note that whilst a guilty plea will reduce the main sentence (in this case probably a community order) by up to a third it will NOT reduce the length of the ban. Mrs M's niece will probably be offered the opportunity to attend a drink-drivers' rehabilitation course. This will cost her around £200 (the cost varies according to the provider) and if completed will see a 25% reduction in the length of the ban.

A "character reference" incidentally is unlikely to have any substantial influence on the sentence.