R v Stewart (No 2) [2022] NSWDC 206

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Stewart (No 2) [2022] NSWDC 206 Hearing dates: 02 June 2022 Date of orders: 02 June 2022 Decision date: 02 June 2022 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Bennett SC DCJ Decision: The reasons for my decision announced this morning have not changed and I rely upon those for the purposes of my decision Catchwords: COURTS AND JUDGES — Jurisdiction — District Court Category: Principal judgment Parties: Regina (Crown) Kieran Stewart (offender) Representation: Jason Lee (Solicitor for the Crown) Daniel Thomas (Solicitor for the offender)

Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT File Number(s): 2021/00149276

REVISED EX TEMPORE JUDGEMENT

Introduction 1. This morning, 2 June 2022, I delivered a judgement and announced the conviction of the offender and imposed a sentence upon the offender after the matter was presented to me yesterday, 1 June 2022, including the tender of documents and the presentation of evidence from the offender, his cross-examination, and then oral submissions speaking to written submissions previously provided.

The Flawed Proceedings on Sentence 1. The offender was sentenced to a term of imprisonment and after I adjourned, to resume a trial in which I am presiding, my associate realised that there was no record on JusticeLink of the accused having ever been arraigned in the District Court. The matter was called over before the Chief Judge some time earlier this year and the matter, according to the note made, was adjourned until 23 May 2022 for arraignment. I mistakenly believed that the arraignment had taken place. In fact, it had not and thus having not taken place the Court had no jurisdiction to continue with the hearing, notwithstanding the work that had been completed by this morning.