R v Al Batat & Ors (No 32) [2020] NSWSC 1557

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Al Batat & Ors (No 32) [2020] NSWSC 1557 Hearing dates: 3 November 2020 Date of orders: 3 November 2020 Decision date: 03 November 2020 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Hamill J Decision: (1) Pursuant to s 53B(d) of the Jury Act 1977 (NSW), juror number 9 from call number 707 at the Downing Centre, Sydney, is discharged. (2) Pursuant to s 53C(1)(b) of the Jury Act 1977 (NSW) the trial is to continue with a reduced number of jurors, namely 14 jurors. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – somnolence - discretionary discharge of individual juror - juror observed sleeping during important evidence for the accused and prosecutor's address - application by one accused - joined by some, opposed by others - whether situation should be monitored further - whether juror should be examined - sleeping judge case - sleeping juror - discretionary factors - expanded jury of 15 still intact -juror discharged Legislation Cited: Jury Act 1977 (NSW), ss 53B, 53C Cases Cited: Cesan v The Queen (2008) 236 CLR 358; [2008] HCA 52 R v Rogerson; R v McNamara (No 27) [2016] NSWSC 152 Wu v The Queen (1999) 199 CLR 99; [1999] HCA 52 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Regina Abdallah Hassan Al Batat Ying Cheng Luo Ian Fan Jaiyu Liu Jacob Blake Bayliss Nai An Li Representation: Counsel: P Hogan (Crown) B Rigg SC (Al Batat) R Webb (Luo) T Quilter (Fan) N Carroll (Liu) A Norrie (Bayliss) D Carroll (Li)