R v Sharpe (No 2) [2021] NSWSC 32

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Sharpe (No 2) [2021] NSWSC 32 Hearing dates: 21 January 2021 Date of orders: 21 January 2021 Decision date: 21 January 2021 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Bellew J Decision: (1) The expert opinion evidence of Detective Senior Sergeant Moon contained in paragraphs 15.2; 19.2; 19.3; 62.3.1; 62.5.1; 62.6; 72.3; 72.4 and 72.5 of his statement of 3 January 2021 is excluded. (2) The trial date of 1 February 2021 in the Supreme Court of New South Wales sitting at Queanbeyan is confirmed. (3) The matter is listed for further directions at 9.30 am on Friday 29 January 2021. (4) The Crown is to file and serve a notice of motion and submissions in support by 4.00 pm on Monday 25 January 2021. (5) The accused is to file any submissions in reply by 4.00 pm on Wednesday 27 January 2021. (6) I make an order pursuant to s 77 of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW) for the attendance of the accused by AVL on that day. Catchwords: EVIDENCE – Exclusion of evidence – Accused charged with murder – Where Crown served lengthy expert report in relation to blood pattern analysis one week prior to the commencement of the accused's trial – No explanation for the delay in serving the report – Evidence of failure by the Crown to properly enquire as to the progress of the preparation of the report – Where there was insufficient time prior to the commencement of the trial to allow the accused to retain an expert – Where alleged offence occurred almost two years ago – Accused already in custody for approximately 20 months – Further significant delay in the event that the Crown were permitted to rely on the evidence – Evidence excluded PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Service by Crown of lengthy expert report a short time prior to the accused's trial – Observations as to the unacceptability of the Crown serving material at such a late stage prior to an accused's trial Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) Cases Cited: Haoui v R (2008) 188 A Crim R 331; [2008] NSWCCA 209 R v Rice (No 4) [2014] NSWSC 1525 R v Rogerson; R v McNamara (No 41) [2016] NSWSC 364 R v Sharpe (No 1) [2020] NSWSC 1794 Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Daniel James Sharpe – Accused Regina – Crown Representation: Counsel: K Ratcliffe – Crown T D Anderson – Accused