Mucaj v R [2021] NSWCCA 84

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Mucaj v R [2021] NSWCCA 84 Hearing dates: 12 April 2021 Decision date: 03 May 2021 Before: Basten JA at [1]; Davies J at [57]; Button J at [58] Decision: (1) Grant the applicant leave to appeal from his convictions on counts 1 and 3 on an indictment dated 29 October 2019. (2) Dismiss the appeal. Catchwords: CRIME – appeal – challenge to unreasonable verdict – not a ground which involves a question of law alone – leave required – Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW), s 5 CRIME – appeal – inconsistent verdicts – whether miscarriage of justice – whether acquittals cast doubt on acceptance of complainant's evidence – whether reasonable and logical explanation available accounting for acquittals CRIME – appeal – unreasonable verdicts – whether jury should have entertained a reasonable doubt – complainant's evidence supporting convictions confirmed by medical evidence of injuries – DNA tests implicated offender – evidence of early complaint – complainant's evidence plausible Legislation Cited: Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW), ss 5, 6 Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), s 38 Cases Cited: M v The Queen (1994) 181 CLR 487; [1994] HCA 63 MacKenzie v The Queen (1996) 190 CLR 348; [1996] HCA 35 R v Kirkman (1987) 44 SASR 591 R v Markuleski (2001) 52 NSWLR 82; [2001] NSWCCA 290 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Fatmir Mucaj (Applicant) Regina (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: Mr M Ramage QC (Applicant) Ms M Millward (Respondent)