My son (38 yrs old) was involved in a multi car accident while driving a work vehicle. He left the work site after what we believe was an auditory halucination - he believed he got a phone call advising him that his son had been injured on the way to school. He has no memory of a 4 hour period of that day including when he hit the other vehicles. He was arrested by the police at the scene and taken to hospital for assessment - blood and urine samples were taken - he was not over the legal alcohol limit. He is a regular drinker and marijuana smoker but had not smoked for 7 days prior to the accident. He is currently seeing a specialist for further review and diagnosis as to the cause of the episode - this may be brain damage due to long term alcohol use or a drug psychosis or a form of epilepsy - we're not sure how long this will take. According to NSW Police Media reports my son has been charged with 7 traffic offences including 'drive vehicle in manner dangerous' and 'negligent driving'. According to the media statement he is due to appear in court on 16 July 2012 however he has no personal knowledge of this. Police came to his home the day after the accident and suspended his license for 14 days but he has had no contact with them since then. My questions are: 1) Can police lay charges without your knowledge? 2) Are any of the potential diagnoses defences against the charges? 3) Is there any immediate advice you can provide on how we should proceed?

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State/Territory: NSW

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As money is a great concern this service is the first thing I've tried