Olaf Dietrich, a German born migrant with a history of prior offences as his alias “Hugo rich” found himself face to face with the law after being found guilty for a range of drug related offences. The offender both naive and ignorant to the processes of the law took it upon himself to represent his case alone, a decision he did not expect to be incriminating in the outcome of his final verdict. Olaf Dietrich believed, although much to the dismay of any potential representatives, that he had a high chance in succeeding in his case and refused to plead guilty or believe otherwise. After exhausting all attempts he made to seek legal representation and being forced to then proceed with his trial as a lone representative, it wasn’t until he had …show more content…
Dietrich also believed that it was in the discretion of a judge to delay or adjourn a trail for any accused without representation until appropriate representation was found and the trial could advance fairly and justly The issue began the day Dietrich landed on Melbourne soil on the 17th of December 1986 after having travelled to Thailand. At the time of his arrival Dietrich was retrieved and arrested by federal police/officials for having imported a minimum of 70 grams of heroin that he had hidden in a number of digested condoms. Dietrich was then tried for three counts in the Victorian county court one being for importing a trafficable quantity of drugs into Australia. Throughout the 40 day trial procedure Dietrich was forced to represent himself given he had already exhausted all possibilities of retaining any form of legal representation. After having applied countlessly, failing then reapplying for assistance from the supreme court of Victoria his request was once again denied and was obligated to continue the process