Houshyar v R [2022] NSWCCA 245

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Houshyar v R [2022] NSWCCA 245 Hearing dates: 26 September 2022 Date of orders: 09 December 2022 Decision date: 09 December 2022 Before: Garling J at [1] Adamson J at [176] N Adams J at [177] Decision: (1) Leave to appeal be granted; (2) The appeal be dismissed. Catchwords: CRIME — Appeals — Appeal against conviction — Unreasonable verdict — Offence contrary to s 38(b) of the Crimes Act 1900 of causing a person to take an intoxicating substance with intent to commit an indictable offence — Further offences of sexual intercourse without consent and larceny committed while complainant was unconscious as a result of the intoxicating substance — Circumstantial case which relied on the complainant's account and also expert pharmacological evidence — Whether all reasonable hypotheses consistent with innocence were excluded — Open to jury to exclude those reasonable hypotheses — Appeal dismissed Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 ss 38(b), 61I, 117 Criminal Appeal Act 1912 s 6(1) Cases Cited: Chidiac v The Queen (1991) 171 CLR 432; [1991] HCA 4 Dansie v The Queen [2022] HCA 25; 96 ALJR 728 Hocking v Bell (1945) 71 CLR 430; [1945] HCA 16 Liberato v The Queen (1985) 159 CLR 507; [1985] HCA 66 M v The Queen (1994) 181 CLR 487; [1994] HCA 63 Pell v The Queen (2020) 268 CLR 123; [2020] HCA 1 R v Baden-Clay (2016) 258 CLR 308; [2016] HCA 35 SKA v The Queen (2011) 243 CLR 400; [2011] HCA 13 Whitehorn v The Queen (1983) 152 CLR 657; [1983] HCA 42 Texts Cited: Not applicable Category: Principal judgment Parties: Mohammadreza Aghajani Houshyar (Applicant) The Crown (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: GE Lewer / C Akthar (Applicant) E Nicholson (Respondent)