Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
Former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer could be forced to represent himself in his upcoming car crash trial if he is unable to stump up the money to pay for a lawyer, a court has heard.
Mehajer fronted the Downing Centre District Court via video link from Cooma jail last week seeking to vacate the November 21 start date for the long-awaited trial over his alleged staging of a car crash in Sydney’s west in October 2017.
Prosecutors will allege Mehajer was on the way to an unrelated court matter when he deliberately smashed his black Mercedes AMG into another car at a Lidcombe intersection in a bid to avoid appearing in court.
The now-36-year-old was arrested in January 2018 and charged with a series of offences including negligent driving, making a false representation resulting in a police investigation and making a false ambulance report.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, however the case has been plagued by ongoing delays including the suspension of jury trials during the pandemic.
In court last week, Mehajer said he had no money to pay for a barrister and had been knocked back multiple times for a grant of Legal Aid. He claimed it would be unfair to allow the case to proceed in November, which would require him to represent himself in the three-week trial if he couldn’t find lawyers to represent him for free.
“I don’t have the ability or knowledge or even the resources to run my own matters unrepresented,” Mehajer told the court.
“The aim is to be represented and run a fair trial and have the ability to cross examine others, subpoena material and so on.
“I don’t have the ability to do that, I’m not a lawyer.” owever, Judge Sarah Huggett refused to delay the trial any further, saying it was clear that Mehajer was intelligent enough to represent himself if required. he court heard Mehajer had sought to have the case adjourned to July or September next year, saying he hoped to unlock funds through the sale of property, which would pay for his legal representation. Prosecutors opposed the adjournment application, saying Mehajer already had two further unrelated trials listed in June and August next year and he was simply trying to“delay the inevitable”. The Crown would say the matter needs to proceed on November 21 – there needs to be some finality in that matter and there needs to be a continuing sense of finality for the other matters that are pending,” the prosecutor said.
He said Mehajer could apply for a lawyer through the NSW Bar Association’s pro-bono scheme, but claimed the former politician was otherwise capable of representing himself during the trial.
Judge Huggett agreed, noting Mehajer had already told the court he could run the trial if need be. “In making the application, Mr Mehajer states he wishes one final opportunity to have the trial vacated, then contends if he’s unable to raise the funds, that he’s prepared to run the trial himself in 2023,” she said. In my view, if Mr Mehajer is prepared to run the trial himself in 2023, he’s acknowledging by that, that he’s capable of running a trial if need be, by himself.”
