Constantinidis v R; Lazar v R [2022] NSWCCA 4

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Constantinidis v R; Lazar v R [2022] NSWCCA 4 Hearing dates: 9-10 November 2021 Date of orders: 11 February 2022 Decision date: 11 February 2022 Before: Gleeson JA Fagan J Lonergan J Decision: In the appeal of Achilles Constantinidis: (1) Leave to appeal granted. (2) Appeal upheld on grounds 3 and 4. (3) The finding of the Trial Judge that the appellant is guilty is set aside and in lieu thereof direct that there be entered a finding of not guilty. In the appeal of Ian David Lazar: (1) Leave to appeal granted. (2) Appeal upheld on grounds 2 and 3. (3) The finding of the Trial Judge that the appellant is guilty is set aside and in lieu thereof direct that there be entered a finding of not guilty. Catchwords: CRIME — Appeals — Appeals against conviction — Unreasonable verdict — Judge alone trial — Single charge – Perverting the course of justice — Character evidence — Reasonable doubt about evidence of critical Crown witness Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020 (NSW) Cases Cited: Doney v The Queen [1990] HCA 51; (1990) 171 CLR 20 Eastman v The Queen (2000) 203 CLR 1; [2000] HCA 29 Filippou v The Queen (2015) 256 CLR 47; [2015] HCA 29 Fleming v The Queen (1998) 197 CLR 250; [1998] HCA 68 Melbourne v The Queen (1999) 198 CLR 1; [1999] HCA 32 R v Andrews [1982] 2 NSWLR 116 R v Do [2004] NSWCCA 137 R v Lazar; R v Constantinidis [2020] NSWDC 3 R v Murphy (1985) 4 NSWLR 42 R v Stalder [1981] 2 NSWLR 9 Swansson v R [2007] NSWCCA 67 The Queen v A2; The Queen v Magennis; The Queen v Vaziri [2019] HCA 35 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Achilles Constantinidis (Applicant) Ian David Lazar (Applicant) Regina (Crown) Representation: Counsel: T Game SC with D Barrow (Applicant Constantinidis) G Bashir SC with C Parkin (Applicant Lazar) M Kumar with K Mackenzie (Crown)