being a character witness

[Deleted User] · 07/03/08 - 19:40

i would like to provide a court with a character witness statement for a friend who is up in court later this month. Does anyone have any advice on what to put in my statement? Do I just talk about what a good guy he is or do I include my thoughts on his charge as well? He is up for conspiricy to supply because he phoned a mate to get some coke for a couple of blokes he met in a pub who turned out to be undercover cops. He is not a dealer and this is all down to his great nature of just trying to be a good guy and look after people when he can. Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Deleted User] · 07/03/08 - 20:35

Do be careful if you have to stand up in court and answer questions (rather than just give a written one).
They'll do their best to trip you up (and probably succeed) and you could end up making things worse for yourself, and have the court saying you're an unreliable witness ie a liar.

If your friend has a lawyer it might be best discussed with him/her first.

Babe Rainbow · 07/03/08 - 20:38

As long as you are able to stand up in court and swear to tell the truth as you see it. If you tell it as you see it - not just what you think he wants you to say or what you think the court wants to hear then you will be ok.

TELL THE TRUTH AND YOU CAN'T GO WRONG

simondsUU933w · 07/03/08 - 20:57

AFAIK the character witness statement is your view on the person's character - I don't think you should discuss the offence.

lifesabeach11 · 07/03/08 - 21:08

So he is looking after people getting them coke :rolleyes:

robtuk06 · 07/03/08 - 21:15

Assume its a magistrates court and a written statement.

Just write how long you have known the accused, how you know them, and a character reference ie are they reliabel, trustworth etc.

The acuseds solicitor may read it out, they may not depending how it goes.

[Deleted User] · 07/03/08 - 22:57

Sorry, I don't mean to be harsh - he might well be "a good guy", but he doesn't come over as exactly blessed in the brain cells department if he can be so daft as to be prepared to order drugs for people he met in a pub. In your shoes, I'd get some advice on what providing a character witness statement entails - you could ask the CAB, or contact a local solicitor that offers a 30-minute consultation free of charge. Providing a written statement is one thing, but if there's a chance you'll have to stand up in court & be questioned at any level, I'd steer well clear as you don't know what you'll be questioned on - who knows what other stuff he's done in his "good guy" role?

_radioamerica · 08/03/08 - 07:47

You should get him to say he didn't really know anyone that sold coke he just wanted to seem 'cool' infront of his 'new friends'.

[Deleted User] · 08/03/08 - 08:22

_radioamerica wrote: »

You should get him to say he didn't really know anyone that sold coke he just wanted to seem 'cool' infront of his 'new friends'.

If that had any chance of working, it's a line that should have been said at the very beginning & stuck to from that point on. It's too late for that now. The police won't have initially arrested him just for making a phone call - if that's all it took, ringing someone for "coke" could have been asking someone to add the fizzy brown stuff to the Sainsbury's shopping list. The police have obviously got more info on the case than the OP has, as they wouldn't now be pursuing a charge of conspiracy to supply otherwise. For all the OP knows, the person that his friend rang may already be known to the police & be part of a much bigger picture, or his friend may have been up to a bit more in the past than he's letting on to the OP.

Adding a pointless story to the mix at this stage isn't likely to help anyone. Instead of priming his friend with a story that could make them both look very silly, the OP should be taking advice for himself before doing, writing or saying anything else.

Dan Sette · 08/03/08 - 09:33

markybaby wrote: »

He is up for conspiricy to supply because he phoned a mate to get some coke for a couple of blokes he met in a pub who turned out to be undercover cops. He is not a dealer and this is all down to his great nature of just trying to be a good guy

Tread carefully. The police, as has been said, will probably know more about this than you. Why were they targeting that pub? Is it known for drug dealing? How did your friend know who to contact? Has he, therefore, done it before? Was HE being targeted?

He may be a great guy. But make sure you don't get dragged into to something yourself.

Im not trying to preach, but no matter how great a guy he is, he still felt it necessary to break the law to appear to be so.

I had a friend who is doing 7 years for a really serious crime. No-one, in our group of friends had any inkling. He was the life and soul, and the guy you would invite first to any gathering because he was just such a great bloke.

We heard he'd gone to France (not unusual as he spent every summer there with friends) then read, with total astonishment and disbelief about his court case in the papers.

[Deleted User] · 08/03/08 - 10:34

Dan Sette wrote: »

I had a friend who is doing 7 years for a really serious crime. No-one, in our group of friends had any inkling. He was the life and soul, and the guy you would invite first to any gathering because he was just such a great bloke.

We heard he'd gone to France (not unusual as he spent every summer there with friends) then read, with total astonishment and disbelief about his court case in the papers.

Exactly. Unless you're with someone 24 hours a day every day, you can't possibly know everything that they get up to, & money/a need to be liked can make people do things you wouldn't expect of them. We used to have an intranet bulletin board at work, where people would advertised things for sale, gig tickets, ask for info about a club, that sort of thing. There was a guy who'd been working there for years who'd every few months put up an advert asking people if they'd join him on a shopping trip to France - he had a private pilot's licence, access to a plane & the deal was that if he got a minimum number of people for the flight he could take them to Calais & back, & they'd split the cost of the fuel between them. Some staff went, but my friends & I could never get ourselves organised in time & kept missing out.

A few years ago, I saw his name in a newspaper. It turned out that he was getting staff on the flights who'd travel innocently, not knowing they were providing cover for an illegal immigrant smuggling operation. There'd be a person on the flight who they didn't know, who didn't speak & slept through most of the flight because they apparently weren't feeling well. No-one thought anything of it - they never usually went on the flights more than once, so never saw it happen again & the subject never really came up for discussion. Can you imagine how those people who innocently went on the flights felt when they heard what had really been going on? A colleague you'd worked alongside for years treating you like that? :eek: No-one at work had an earthly clue what he was up to, & people were in shock for ages - some people voluntarily went to the police in tears with worry, even though they'd done nothing wrong.

If you didn't witness something youself, you can't vouch for what led up to the event, or what happened after it unless you were there. As much as I value my friends & trust them with certain aspects of my life, there are only 3 people on this earth that I'd ever be prepared to speak up for in terms of their character when it comes to the law if I wasn't an actual witness to the event, especially when there's already evidence that they were involved at some level. Two of them are my parents.

California Girl · 08/03/08 - 12:17

markybaby wrote: »

i would like to provide a court with a character witness statement for a friend who is up in court later this month. Does anyone have any advice on what to put in my statement? Do I just talk about what a good guy he is or do I include my thoughts on his charge as well? He is up for conspiricy to supply because he phoned a mate to get some coke for a couple of blokes he met in a pub who turned out to be undercover cops. He is not a dealer and this is all down to his great nature of just trying to be a good guy and look after people when he can. Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks

The charge against him is not your business and you should not include it in your statement.

Personally, I wouldn't be prepared to give a charater reference for someone on a drugs charge but each to their own.

Keep very much to facts. How long you've known him, that you have never known him to be dishonest, what kind of relationship you have (purely friendship, business etc). He was pretty stupid, to say the least.

All looks a bit hinky to me!

[Deleted User] · 08/03/08 - 15:51

i offered to be a charecter witness for a colleague a few years ago , he declined my offer , i fouund out why when he was at court , i aint going into details , but he had managed to pull the wool over everyones eyes as to the nature of the offence , tread carefully OP

[Deleted User] · 08/03/08 - 19:27

paulyoung666 wrote: »

i offered to be a charecter witness for a colleague a few years ago , he declined my offer , i fouund out why when he was at court , i aint going into details , but he had managed to pull the wool over everyones eyes as to the nature of the offence , tread carefully OP

Thank goodness he did the right thing then & declined your offer.

[Deleted User] · 08/03/08 - 19:36

OP, if you take advice & then decide that it's not wise for you to give the statement, don't feel that you have to go through with it as you made the offer. Don't feel guilty - your friend is still your friend, but at the end of the day he's in the position he is because of something he did, whatever part he played in the matter & however it turns out in the end. If he's a good friend, he should understand why you want to retract the offer. If he doesn't understand/accept it, stand your ground. Don't be pushed into doing something you don't feel comfortable with.

[Deleted User] · 08/03/08 - 19:56

robinsbatman wrote: »

OP, if you take advice & then decide that it's not wise for you to give the statement, don't feel that you have to go through with it as you made the offer. Don't feel guilty - your friend is still your friend, but at the end of the day he's in the position he is because of something he did, whatever part he played in the matter & however it turns out in the end. If he's a good friend, he should understand why you want to retract the offer. If he doesn't understand/accept it, stand your ground. Don't be pushed into doing something you don't feel comfortable with.

Exactly. Your mate's the one who's guilty (or not), don't be coerced into something that you're not 100% happy about.

Migster · 08/03/08 - 20:43

Don't take this the wrong way, but is a character statement from a friend actually worth much? After all, you're not in any way independent and your hardly likely to say negative things. Unless through your work you are in a position of some standing (doctor, bank manager, etc.), I'm not sure it would sway a judge very much.

[Deleted User] · 08/03/08 - 20:48

Just like to thank everyone for their thoughts. I'm going to call his solicitor on Monday to get some information and advice. If it's a written statement only I will simply stick to exactly what experience I have had with the guy and not make any comment on the case. If it means going to court to stand up I will rethink. Thanks

[Deleted User] · 08/03/08 - 21:18

To be honest, I'd speak to someone impartial as well as him or instead of him. He's working for his client, not you, & it's in his interest to put the best possible picture to you. You've got to remember that once a character statement is given, trying to retract it afterwards is probably going to cause more trouble than not giving it in the first place.

[Deleted User] · 09/03/08 - 08:17

I did that for a friend once at a tribunial and then found out in later years that she really wasn't the lovely lady I thought she was when she did the same crime again. Be careful and just say what you know about them. Don't be overly slushy and flattering. You may not know the whole truth. I felt quite guilty afterwards even though I had no idea that she was lying to me.

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