A prosecutor's moment of madness saved her boyfriend $500 but cost her not only her career, but her freedom as well.
Former Gold Coast prosecutor Rosanna Doolan, 33, was jailed for six months on Wednesday for interfering with her ex-partner's assault case in 2012.
The model turned lawyer re-opened then-boyfriend Dax Roep's road rage case in the Southport Magistrate Court in May 2012, resulting in her lover's compensation liability being halved. Doolan's District Court trial in Brisbane this month heard she later described the move as a "brain snap".
She also sent her boyfriend's lawyer potentially damaging information about the complainant that she obtained through her position.
At his first sentence, property valuer Roep was fined $1500 and ordered to pay $1000 compensation to a woman he allegedly slapped in a fit of road rage.
While Roep was happy with the outcome - no conviction was recorded - Doolan re-opened the case and told the magistrate her boyfriend had pushed the woman, not slapped her.
The magistrate ended up reducing the amount of compensation Roep had to pay from $1000 to $500.
While her boyfriend saved $500, Doolan was stood down and eventually charged with two counts of misconduct while in public office.
The former Miss Indy model pleaded not guilty to the charges but a jury convicted her on both counts on Wednesday.
Defence barrister Tony Kimmins said his client had a long-standing anxiety disorder and had become fixated on correcting what she believed were the facts of the case.
He said the former top student had been publicly shamed and would never be able to work as a lawyer again, while her relationship with Roep had ended soon after the incident.
Justice Brian Devereaux sentenced Doolan to 18 months' imprisonment, to be suspended after six months.
"If this is a rare case, the community is lucky," he said.
"Who could imagine a lawyer lying to a magistrate?"
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