R v Officer A (No 5) [2022] NSWSC 1396

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Officer A (No 5) [2022] NSWSC 1396 Hearing dates: 12 October 2022 Date of orders: 12 October 2022 Decision date: 18 October 2022 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Beech-Jones CJ at CL Decision: (1) The CCTV footage of the deceased in the cells on 15 March 2019 the subject of this objection will be admitted on the condition that at the time it is adduced the Crown advises the jury that it accepts that the accused did not see the deceased falling from his bed; (2) Reserve for the accused liberty to apply for a direction to be given to the jury at the time the evidence is adduced to the effect that: (i) It is accepted by the Crown that there was nothing inappropriate or improper in the accused's dealings with the deceased in the cells; (ii) The jury are only to use what they observe on the CCTV footage for the purposes of assessing what knowledge the accused obtained of the deceased and for no other reason. Catchwords: EVIDENCE – accused correctional officer charged with murder following shooting of escaping prisoner – whether accused believed on reasonable grounds it was necessary to discharge firearm to prevent the escape of the deceased – CCTV footage of deceased in police cells hours prior to attempted escape – accused mostly present – footage shows the deceased having a fit and waiting for Justice Health nurse – whether footage taken when accused not present is admissible – jury could infer accused was watching on a monitor – s 137 of Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) – whether jury might conclude that accused showed "callous disregard" to deceased – whether footage will cause distress and lead to "illegitimate" reasoning – no real danger of prejudicial reasoning – probative value of evidence not outweighed – liberty granted to accused to apply for direction when evidence adduced Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW) Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Regulation 2014 (NSW) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) Cases Cited: R v Officer A (No 1) [2022] NSWSC 1362 R v Officer A (No 2) [2022] NSWSC 1381 R v Officer A (No 3) [2022] NSWSC 1394 Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Rex (Crown) Officer A (Accused) Representation: Counsel: Ms S Dowling SC; Ms S Lind; Ms V Chan (Crown) Mr P Strickland SC; Ms S Palaniappan; Mr I McLaughlan (Accused)