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Sentencing Tom Spohr Sentencing Tom Spohr

Totaan v R [2022] NSWCCA 75

In this decision the Court of Criminal Appeal (‘CCA’) a five-judge bench has overturned NSW and interstate authority on the question of hardship to third parties when sentencing federal offenders. The Court held that there is no requirement that such hardship meet the description of being ‘exception

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Sentencing Tom Spohr Sentencing Tom Spohr

McKinley v R [2022] NSWCCA 14

In this decision the Court of Criminal Appeal (‘CCA’) upheld the appeal on the basis that the ‘Ellis’ discount given to the offender for disclosing previously-unknown offending was insufficient. The decision seems to update, to some extent, previous authority which had purported to set arithmetical

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Sentencing Tom Spohr Sentencing Tom Spohr

Darcy v R [2022] NSWCCA 54

As a Table 1 offence, the various forms of offence in s 114 often offer parties a less serious alternative charge in cases involving robberies and break and enter offences. Unfortunately, the ‘sister’ offence in s 115 committing a s 114 offence, having previously been convicted of an indictable offe

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Sentencing Tom Spohr Sentencing Tom Spohr

Black v R [2022] NSWCCA 17

What is the appropriate discount in a matter on indictment if a defendant offers in the Local Court to plead guilty to an alternative charge which is on the charge certificate, but that offer is not accepted by the prosecution until the matter has already been committed for trial? In this case, the

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Sentencing Tom Spohr Sentencing Tom Spohr

Lloyd v R [2022] NSWCCA 18

Most criminal law practitioners will be familiar with the authorities urging sentencing courts to exercise caution before giving any weight to untested statements made by offenders to experts. Here, the Court of Criminal Appeal (‘CCA’) has observed that there is no ‘principle’ that such statements a

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Evidence Tom Spohr Evidence Tom Spohr

Ahmed v R [2021] NSWCCA 280

In this decision the Court of Criminal Appeal has held that in cases where the accused bears an onus in relation to a defence, there is a particular need for the judicial officer to direct themselves that the failure of the accused to give of sworn evidence cannot be used as a factor on the question

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Criminal law Tom Spohr Criminal law Tom Spohr

Ah Keni v R [2021] NSWCCA 263

In this decision the CCA has found that in order to be guilty of being an accessory after the fact, an offender has to take active steps to assist the principal offenders. It will not be enough to simply fail to report the offence to the police – although silence might sometimes be relevant to objec

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Criminal law Tom Spohr Criminal law Tom Spohr

Xue v R [2021] NSWCCA 270

In this decision the Court of Criminal Appeal (‘CCA’) has held that when prosecuting an offence of dealing with property that there are reasonable grounds to suspect are proceeds of crime, the Crown can rely upon a non-specific ‘serious offence’ as the source of the proceeds. This is to be contraste

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Sentencing Tom Spohr Sentencing Tom Spohr

Nasrallah v R [2021] NSWCCA 207

This decision of the CCA exposes a potential problem in trying to apply the principles from Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571 (‘Bugmy’) to cases where there may not have been a lengthy history of trauma, but rather only one or two traumatic episodes, and perhaps against a background of less depri

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Appeals Tom Spohr Appeals Tom Spohr

Lunney v Director of Public Prosecutions [2021] NSWCA 186

In this decision, the Court of Appeal has held that in a District Court appeal against conviction, the issues to be considered by the judge are those raised by the parties. If the appellant does not raise for consideration a point that requires a review of the whole of the evidence, then a judge wil

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Sentencing Tom Spohr Sentencing Tom Spohr

Meoli v R [2021] NSWCCA 213

In this decision the Court of Criminal Appeal (‘CCA’) has held that whilst prospects of rehabilitation, and unlikelihood of reoffending are separate and distinct factors, the burden of establishing the latter falls on the offender – and in any event the two issues will often be co-extensive.

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Sentencing Tom Spohr Sentencing Tom Spohr

Ke v R [2021] NSWCCA 177

In this case the Court of Criminal Appeal (‘CCA’) has held that when considering the Early Appropriate Guilty Plea sentencing discounts, if it happens to be the case that the parties failed to record in the Case Conferencing Certificate an offer which was formally made in writing by a defendant, the

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Sentencing Tom Spohr Sentencing Tom Spohr

Naberezhnov v R [2021] NSWCCA 142

You might think drugs and music festivals seem to go hand-in-glove; a fact which was as true at Woodstock as it is today. In this decision, however, the CCA has used the occasion to observe that just because it might be notorious that drugs are consumed and distributed at music festivals, that gener

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Local Court Tom Spohr Local Court Tom Spohr

Huynh v R [2021] NSWCCA 148

The Court of Criminal Appeal (‘CCA’) has held that, in appeals to the District Court, if the original sentence included a conviction and the appellant a mental health diversion, they need to lodge a conviction appeal, not just a sentence appeal – under both Commonwealth and State regimes. A convicti

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