R v Pham [2021] NSWSC 196

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Pham [2021] NSWSC 196 Hearing dates: 2, 3, 4 and 5 March 2021 Date of orders: 9 March 2021 Decision date: 09 March 2021 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Wilson J Decision: Verdict of guilty to murder returned Catchwords: CRIME – murder – trial by judge alone – single issue at trial – question of self-defence – accused a drug user – no objective basis for fear of deceased – question of drug induced paranoia – whether asserted fear of deceased genuine - relevance of conduct of accused after death of deceased - whether Crown negatived self-defence Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) Cases Cited: Abdallah v R [2016] NSWCCA 34 Colosimo & Ors v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) [2006] NSWCA 293 R v Flame (No 2) [2020] NSWSC 1602 R v Katarzynski [2002] NSWSC 613 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Regina (Crown) Khanh Xuan Pham (Accused) Representation: Counsel: D Daleo (Crown) L Brasch (Accused)

Solicitors: Solicitor for Public Prosecutions (NSW) (Crown) Mark Klees & Associates (Accused) File Number(s): 2019/12346 Publication restriction: Nil

Judgment 1. On 2 March 2021, the accused was arraigned upon an indictment dated that day that charged him with the murder of Goran Stevanovic, on or around 8 January 2019, at Sadlier in this State, contrary to s 18(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). He entered a plea of not guilty to that charge, but pleaded guilty to the statutory alternative of manslaughter. The plea was not accepted by the Crown in full discharge of the indictment, and the matter proceeded to trial. 2. An election for the trial to proceed before a judge alone had been previously made by the accused, and consented to by the Crown. An order for the trial to proceed in that way was made by the Court on 3 February 2021, and so the matter was heard before me, sitting without a jury. 3. As the accused's plea to manslaughter suggests, there was no dispute that his deliberate act caused the death of Mr Stevanovic; the issue at trial was whether the accused had acted, albeit disproportionately, in self-defence. The trial was conducted in an efficient manner, focusing on evidence of particular relevance to that question.