cops a knocking at my door

[strik3]

latest update. i have received a summons to court. i am being charged with 2 counts of possesing an illegal weapon. i have seen a lawyer and they said i will probably have to plead guilty and hope they give me a slap on the wrist with no conviction. my court date is on the 23 of this month

 

[Sigurthr]

Wait, I thought they only caught your cheap low power ones which were sold there in the country?

 

[Blord]

I hoped things goes well for you. Going to the court is a serious business.

 

[Tech_Junkie]

Wait, I thought they only caught your cheap low power ones which were sold there in the country?

Possession is 9/10 of the law. And anything over 1mW is considered illegal, so its hard to plead ignorance.

I cant see how they expect you to meter every laser before you buy it, but in the end its your responsibility to make sure you dont own anything illegal.

 

[Just4FunReally]

It sounds like this neighbor @$$ that started the whole thing is one of those who need to be castrated before allowed into society. We do NOT need people like that reproducing.

 

[SparkyHt]

Umm, you may want to consider how the prosecution may dig up your involvement on this forum and any statements you may have made, including your signature that claims you have a 1000mW and 500mW laser in your possession. Depending on how zealous the prosecutor is, he might be aware of laser hobbyists and where they go for parts and information. It wouldn't be too hard to scope around this forum looking for Australian members who mention they are in legal trouble. A little IP information, perhaps taking your computer into evidence, and they will have everything to make an example out of you.

I don't mean to scare you, but do consider all outcomes. If the prosecution starts digging up extra info beyond just the two lasers they will have to disclose this to your defense attorney, who will then approach you on it. Until then only disclose information to your lawyer upon his inquiry and refer all others to him alone. You don't want to incriminate yourself any further. Hope for the best, but always be prepared for the worst. Good luck.

 

[ShortyInCanada]

All this seems to be WAY BEYOND anything a normal person should expect to be going through, regardless of the country they live in.
It sounds like the original complaint is that he somehow "assaulted" the complainant.
Without a formal charge being levied there should be no reason to spend the time and associated costs persuing this.
From what I have read in this thread the facts are that you are only guilty of purchasing, in good faith, a couple of pointers from a business that sold them as legally conforming to the regulations/laws of the country.
Unless the prosecution can prove that you are some kind of expert in the field and that you have easy access to the proper equipment for confirming the output power of the units you purchased there is no reason to expect an average person to be able to know that a unit is .1 mw higher than allowed. As far as the other being 2.4 mw I would be getting your lawyer to provide you with the full documentation of the testing procedures to find out if the output was produced under "perfect" conditions or "typical" conditions.
Typical conditions rarely produce those maximum results. More than likely a much more reduced output would be experienced.
Still, an output of 2mw from a red pointer isn't considered to be overly "dangerous" to most of the rest of the world. If you can work into your defense how you know enough to handle the items "safely" by not ever pointing them at someone intentionally you should be able to lessen the impact of the whole deal.
A wrist slap is all you should get.
While you have the lawyer's services make sure you ask about the timeframe involved and conditions to be able to go back and have your record "expunged" or completely erased and cleared.
Usually it take something like 5 years without any other offenses or legal issues involving similar items/equipment/circumstances. So keep you nose clean for a few years exercising ultra caution and you get to wipe it all away.
Just my two bits on it for you though.
Good luck with it and don't let it all bog you down too much.

 

[crazyhobo]

Weapon my ass. Are there any FORKS in the house? What about a sharpened pencil?

What's most wack, is that the asshole who started this was causing more harm to you by violating his lease than your 2mw laser could ever cause to anyone.

That's absolutely stupid. Australia needs to get with the program on what is dangerous and what isn't.

EDIT: After looking this up, I understand that Australia banned lasers over 1mw in 2008 after a rash of incidents in which people were shining them at aircraft. What I don't understand is why they can't just arrest and charge the sh!t out of the people who do this, like we do in the United States, instead of banning the lasers. There is no reason to ruin everyone's fun just because of a few idiots.

 

[brtaman]

Wow.

Sorry to hear about your situation.

Now are you absolutely positive that you can be held liable for the fact that the lasers themselves are over-spec? Something about this fact just doesn't sit right with me.

Under this precedent, everyone in Australia who purchased a <1mw laser pointer from a local registered business in good faith that the laser itself is of legal power as advertised, is liable for what seems to be a very harsh fine, considering the output power.

What exactly did your lawyer tell you in regards to this? I would seek advice from several lawyers in regards to this.

If nothing else it would be prudent of you to get this into the news and get a shit storm going, its just the right kind of story they would pounce on and who knows, could at least save someone else's ass in the future. Either way, something just doesn't sit right.

I wish you the best of luck with the situation.

Regards,
brtaman

PS If you do go the news route it would be prudent to delete all your posts, including this thread.

 

[AUSBEN]

I have not been busted with mine yet -__- but with my dumb neighbours it shall be soon.

 

[strik3]

ok so i went to court a couple of days ago, and as instructed by legal aid i pleaded guilty. i did not receive a conviction or a fine. all i have to pay is $400 in court costs. and i am now on a $400 good behaviour bond. so it was a slap on the wrist. the judge did say that had i not pleaded guilty straight away and i was found guilty i would have recieved a large fine in excess of $5000

 

[Tech_Junkie]

Well, it could always be worst. I suggest you only show your lasers to true friends. To date I think you are the first who actually went to court, and got fined in your country. At least on this forum anyway.