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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
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
Lai v R [2021] NSWCCA 217
In this case the CCA has criticised the practice of tendering a letter on sentence, without exposing the offender to cross-examination.
Mourtada v R [2021] NSWCCA 211
In this decision the Court of Criminal Appeal (‘CCA’) has added yet more commentary to saga interpreting the legislation providing for the imposition of an Intensive Correction Order (‘ICO’)
Edwards v The Queen [2021] HCA 28
In this decision of the High Court, both judgments make comments favouring the provision of all electronic data to defendants (as distinct from merely telling them that the material exists). But it also serves as a reminder that if there is late disclosure and the defendant does not seek to make use
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
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
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.
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
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
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
Stoneham v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) [2021] NSWSC 735
This single-judge decision provides that it will be an error if a Magistrate adjourns a sentence to get around the Local Court 5-year jurisdictional limit for offenders already serving a sentence.
Trevascus v R [2021] NSWCCA 104
In this decision, the CCA held that oral jury directions are always necessary, even if written directions are provided. If a written document is given to the jury, it needs to be read out and explained, and ordinarily the jury should not be asked to read the document on their own outside of court.
VP v R [2021] NSWCCA 11
In this decision the Court of Criminal Appeal (‘CCA’) has held that if a defendant remains silent until the end of a trial about the prosecutor’s failure to call witnesses, they risk the appearance that it was a forensic decision – and that may impact on whether the failure will amount to a miscarri
Fisher v R; R v Fisher [2021] NSWCCA 91
In this decision the CCA has reviewed the authorities relating to self-induced intoxication on sentence.
Mandranis v R [2021] NSWCCA 97
In this decision, the Court of Criminal Appeal (‘CCA’) has endorsed a practice of reducing, rather than backdating, sentences of imprisonment when there is pre-sentence custody and an Intensive Correction Order (‘ICO’) is ultimately imposed.
Attorney-General’s Application pursuant to s 108 Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW): Re Robert Burton (a pseudonym) [2021] NSWCCA 87
AUTHOR’S NOTE: There is a really serious question here about what the statutory publication restriction means. The publication restriction in s 108(6) is called out twice by Simpson AJA in the decision (at [5]-[6] and again at [86]), but the judgment offers no advice as to what it really means.
Johnston v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) [2021] NSWSC 333
In this decision of a single judge of the Supreme Court, it has been held when the prosecution wants to elect for a matter to be dealt with on indictment, the key event when talking about time limits is that the communication of the election, either orally to the Local Court, or by filing a notice.
R v SS [2021] NSWCCA 56
In this (pair of) decision(s), the Court of Criminal Appeal has held that the so-called Ellis-discount has to an extent been overtaken by legislation – although case law does establish generally-accepted categories of assistance. Merely pleading guilty and confessing to the offence is unlikely to be
Bentley v R; Davies v R; Thomas v R; Tilley v R [2021] NSWCCA 18
In this unusual case the Court of Criminal Appeal (‘CCA’) has considered the onus of proof in relation to remorse. The overall onus lies upon the offender, on the balance of probabilities, to establish genuine remorse. But where there is a factual issue which might demonstrate an absence of genuine