hoptis
Bluelight Crew
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From Page 11 of the Saturday Age (30/04/2005).
As if he would have pleaded guilty! That's one very lucky twenty-two year old.
Magistrate dismisses drug charge after test delay
A Melbourne magistrate threw out a drug-trafficking charge against a women yesterday after the alleged substance had not been analysed by the Victorian Forensic Science Centre.
Magistrate Lisa Hannan's decision to dismiss the charge followed her recent cricitcisms of long delays in DNA and forensic testing.
At a pre-contest hearing in February, a police prosecutor told Ms Hannan that the drugs - 40 one-millilitre ampoules of suspected testosterone - could not be analysed for up to eight months. Ms Hannan said the delay would be an injustice and allowed two months for the results to be finalised.
In Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday, a police prosecutor asked Ms Hannan to adjourn the case because the analysis had not been done. When she refused, the defendant, 22, pleaded not guilty to a charge of trafficking a drug of dependence, but the prosecutor said he could not lead any evidence - without confirmation the substance was drugs. Ms Hannan then dismissed the charge.
- Steve Butcher
As if he would have pleaded guilty! That's one very lucky twenty-two year old.