Mehajer v R [2022] NSWCCA 240

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Mehajer v R [2022] NSWCCA 240 Hearing dates: 15 July 2022 Date of orders: 18 November 2022 Decision date: 18 November 2022 Before: Bell CJ; Gleeson JA; Yehia J Decision: (1) Leave to appeal against conviction granted on grounds 1, 2, 4 and 5. (2) The application to admit fresh or new evidence on appeal is refused. (3) Appeal against conviction dismissed. (4) Leave to appeal against sentence granted. (5) Appeal against sentence dismissed. (6) Release application filed 5 August 2022 dismissed. Catchwords: CRIME – Appeal against conviction – leave to appeal – judge alone trial – application to rely on new and fresh evidence – whether excessive intervention by trial judge – whether judge's questioning caused miscarriage of justice – whether prosecution complied with disclosure obligations – data downloaded from applicant's mobile phones – whether data provided in advance of trial – whether guilty verdicts unreasonable or unsupported by the evidence CRIME – Appeal against sentence – leave to appeal – appeal against sentence – two offences of perverting the course of justice and one offence of perjury – whether error in assessment of need for specific deterrence – whether aggregate sentence double punishment or crushing – whether failure to give adequate weight to conditions in custody – whether sentence was manifestly excessive CRIME – Bail – bail pending appeal – where two previous appeal bail applications dismissed by Court of appeal – whether change in circumstances since previous application – Bail Act 2013 (NSW) ss 74(1), (3) Legislation Cited: Bail Act 2013 (NSW), ss 4, 22, 49, 74 Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), ss 319, 327 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), ss 9, 53A Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW), ss 5(1)(b), 5(1)(c), 6(1) Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), ss 61, 62, 63 Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1986 (NSW), s 15A Cases Cited: Bugmy v R (2013) 249 CLR 571; [2013] HCA 37 Dansie v The Queen [2022] HCA 25; (2022) 403 ALR 221 Dinsdale v The Queen (2000) 202 CLR 321; [2000] HCA 54 Douar v R [2005] NSWCCA 455; (2005) 159 A Crim R 154 Ellis v R [2015] NSWCCA 262 FB v R; R v FB [2011] NSWCCA 217 Filippou v The Queen (2015) 256 CLR 47; [2015] HCA 29 Galea v Galea (1990) 19 NSWLR 263 Gallagher v The Queen (1986) 160 CLR 392; [1986] HCA 26 JJ v R [2020] NSWCCA 165 Lowndes v The Queen (1999) 195 CLR 665; [1999] HCA 29 Marinellis v R [2006] NSWCCA 307 Masters v R [2022] NSWCCA 228 Mehajer v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) [2022] NSWCCA 23 Mehajer v R [2022] NSWCCA 135 MRW v R [2011] NSWCCA 260 M v The Queen (1994) 181 CLR 487; [1994] HCA 63 Obeid v R (2017) 96 NSWLR 155; [2017] NSWCCA 221 PO v R [2020] NSWCCA 129 Royal Guardian Mortgage Management Pty Ltd v Nguyen [2016] NSWCA 88; (2016) 332 ALR 128 R v Abou-Chabake [2004] NSWCCA 356; (2004) 149 A Crim R 417 R v Esposito (1998) 45 NSWLR 442 R v Finnie and Finnie [2007] NSWCCA 38 R v Fish; R v Swan [2002] NSWCCA 196; (2002) 131 A Crim R 172 R v Linehan [1921] VLR 582; (1921) 27 ALR 348 R v Thompson [2002] NSWCCA 149; (2002) 130 A Crim R 24 R v T, WA [2014] SASCFC 3; (2013) 118 SASR 382 R v Van Ryn [2016] NSWCCA 1 Tarrant v R [2018] NSWCCA 21 Wong v The Queen (2001) 207 CLR 584; [2001] HCA 64 Xie v R [2021] NSWCCA 1; (2021) 386 ALR 371 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Salim Mehajer (Applicant) Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: Applicant in person B Hatfield (Respondent)