Henry Sklarz - Jungle Law: Mad, Bad, Stupid and Dangerous: True Crime Tales from a Perth Criminal Lawyer

A glimpse into the chaotic, violent and often hilarious world of crime through the eyes of one of Perths top criminal defence barristers, Henry Sklarz.

From a career spanning 35 years comes a collection of short stories recounting the murderers, drug smugglers, rapists, prostitutes, unsuccessful bank robbers and more thrills and spills of those caught on the wrong side of the law.

The mad, bad, stupid and dangerous.

To find out more about this book,
including the paperback edition, please visit:
www.vividpublishing.com.au/junglelaw

Copyright 2020 Henry Sklarz

ISBN: 978-1-922409-65-2 (ebook edition)

Published by Vivid Publishing

A division of Fontaine Publishing Group

P.O. Box 948, Fremantle

Western Australia 6959

www.vividpublishing.com.au

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. The information, views, opinions and visuals expressed in this publication are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. The publisher disclaims any liabilities or responsibilities whatsoever for any damages, libel or liabilities arising directly or indirectly from the contents of this publication.

Acknowledgements

I wish to particularly thank and express gratitude to my son Dan for his valuable assistance in the compilation, creative input and editing of this book. I am most grateful for his insights and valuable contribution.

I also thank Allan Dawson, Rory Feely and Steve Camerlengo for their constructive critiques and contributions during the drafting of this book, to Lucy Ridsdale for final editing and Paul Finn and Geoff Cook for their inspiration to write this book.

I dedicate this book to my wife Jo.

About the Author

Henry Sklarz was born in Perth in August 1950, the oldest son of Polish immigrants who came to Western Australia after the debacle of World War II. Educated at Trinity College, he attended the University of Western Australia where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (double major in psychology), Bachelor of Jurisprudence and Bachelor of Laws. He established his own law firm in the 1980s and has been in legal practice for over 35 years, during which time he worked as a barrister at the Western Australian Independent Bar. While he has worked in various areas of the law, he is a specialist in criminal law acting solely as a defence counsel.

Inspired by decades of working with complex characters in difficult circumstances, and after many dinner-party conversations justifying the work of a defence lawyer, Jungle Law is his first book. While he has worked with many case details that are shocking, ugly and tragic, Henry has always kept his sense of humour.

WARNING

Jungle Law contains mature content, drug use, coarse language and depictions of graphic and sexual violence. Reader discretion is advised.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned the following contains reference to deceased persons.

In order to protect client confidentiality and maintain anonymity, character names, certain locations, incidents and events may have been changed. I have also used some poetic licence to fictionalise certain details for dramatic effect.

Preface

At dinner parties when people find out that I am a criminal lawyer, I am often asked, How can you represent guilty people? and How can you sleep at night? My answer is simply that my clients often have lives as complex as the cases they are embroiled in, and it is not my role or responsibility to enquire into whether they are, in fact, guilty. My professional function requires that upon receiving my instructions and hearing all the relevant information no matter how gruesome it may be I advise a client as to whether they have a defence or not. It is the clients decision whether they wish to plead guilty or not guilty. I do not judge them, or their crime, but merely represent their best interest and endeavour to achieve the best result for them within their prevailing circumstances. The criminal judicial system has been established to administer justice, so I am morally resigned to the fact that whatever result I achieve, justice has been served and so I sleep well at night.

In my first years of practice, building a professional reputation and attracting clients was a challenge. In my first Supreme Court trial in the early 1980s, I represented an alleged rapist who was being tried before a judge and jury. Back then, barristers and judges still wore wigs, gowns and robes in the epochal Supreme Court building. After a gruelling week-long trial, the verdict was read out by the jury foreman acquitting my client of this serious and sinister charge. Having just received my first not guilty verdict, I was positive that such an impressive result would propel me to great heights, as word got out about this momentous achievement. Being a young defence counsel and having notched up this early victory in my professional career I was keen to let the world know how good I was, to foster a good reputation and receive referrals for future work. Surely, a long line of desperate clients would soon come knocking at my office door.

As I left the hallowed halls of the Supreme Court and walked out into the lush gardens, my client, who was grinning from ear to ear, said to me, Thanks a lot. You were great. I responded, Well, why dont you tell the world and refer me some work? When he replied, Im sorry mate, but Im going to keep this whole thing under wraps, I realised that for all my hard work and skill, my reputation would stand mute and the good will generated by the win would go nowhere. Had the effort I put into getting the acquittal materialised as a hit song, I would be receiving royalties and public kudos for many years. Instead, I was simply left with a feeling of bittersweet disappointment.

After remortgaging my house to fund an office lease and furniture, my very first client, Dave, arrived for his initial appointment in my new law practice. Daves instruction concerned an assault charge that had something to do with his heavy-handed recovery of a debt. Dave was a young, handsome entrepreneur and I was an ambitious young lawyer. My newly appointed secretary, Mandy, was a beautiful long-legged blonde who had won her heat in the Miss West Coast competition at Scarborough Beach the previous weekend. Obviously her bikini body and good looks had aroused the judges attention sufficiently to allow her to win the day. She had come to work this day the first day on the job for both of us wearing loose, white georgette pants with her red knickers underneath clearly visible. Her attire was completely inappropriate for a legal office, however we were all beginners.

Dave was seated opposite me and I was trying very hard to make a good impression as I took notes during the consultation. Without warning or any obvious reason, Mandy pranced into my office and started filing the documents of clients I didnt have. Indeed, there was no filing to be done, but my sexy secretary somehow found herself busy in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet. Dave instinctively turned, saw her red knickers as she bent over the cabinet, looked at me and exclaimed, How can you work all day with an erection?

What an awkward start to the week! Mandy turned, blushing, made a quick exit and closed the office door. I looked up at my client and we both burst out laughing. I dont know if Mandy was the victim or the culprit that day, but suffice to say she wore appropriate apparel from then on. She also improved her office demeanour and actually enjoyed a long term of employment with me as my trusty secretary.