R v Abdaly; R v Hosseinishoja (No 6) (Verdict) [2022] NSWSC 1658

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Abdaly; R v Hosseinishoja (No 6) (Verdict) [2022] NSWSC 1658 Hearing dates: 09-25 November, 06 December 2022 Date of orders: 06 December 2022 Decision date: 06 December 2022 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal Before: Hamill J Decision: The accused are found not guilty Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – judge alone trial – reasons for judgment – legal principles, warning and directions – murder – joint criminal enterprise – whether accused participants in joint criminal enterprise – where victim bashed by group organised by gangster in reprisal for bashing over drug debt – prosecution case reliant on one witness – witness criminally involved in homicide – indirect support of witness's evidence – association evidence – eye-witness testimony – where no established motive in witness to lie – requirement to scrutinise evidence with great care – Rule in Browne v Dunn – failure to comply – Prosecutor's complaints regarding defence addresses – hyperbole and flourishes – client relations – excesses ignored – demeanour of witness – limited weight given to assessment of demeanour – lies – where a number of established lies told by witness over time – inconsistent versions of events – impact on credibility – parts of evidence reminiscent of a movie scene – a yarn spun about an Uzi – "crocodile tears" - positive rejection of parts of evidence – doubts about other parts – impact on assessment of credibility – calculated lies to police to implicate local Indigenous men – inconsistent accounts – whether reasonable doubt about the guilt of the accused Legislation Cited: Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), ss 132, 133 Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), ss 32, 164, 165B Cases Cited: AK v Western Australia (2008) 232 CLR 438; [2008] HCA 8 Browne v Dunn (1893) 6 R 67 Fox v Percy (2003) 214 CLR 118; [2003] HCA 22 Liberato v The Queen (1985) 159 CLR 507; [1985] HCA 66 MJW v The Queen (2005) 80 ALJR 329; [2005] HCA 74 Palmer v The Queen (1998) 193 CLR 1; [1998] HCA 2 Prouten v Chapman [2021] NSWCA 207 R v Abdaly; R v Hosseinishoja (No 3) [2022] NSWSC 1511 R v Birks (1990) 19 NSWLR 677 R v Jovanovic (1997) 42 NSWLR 520 R v Manunta (1989) 54 SASR 17; [1989] SASC 1628 Reyne (a pseudonym) v R [2022] NSWCCA 201 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Rex (Plaintiff) Sayed Anush Abdaly (Defendant) Seyed Amirmohammad Hosseinishoja (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: D Patch (Rex) M Cunneen SC with L Dive (Abdaly) G Brady SC (Hosseinishoja)