Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: R v Songcuan [2022] NSWSC 1796 Hearing dates: 7 and 8 November 2022 Date of orders: 8 November 2022 Decision date: 08 November 2022 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal Before: Campbell J Decision: Juror G is discharged for reasons of ill-health. Catchwords: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE – trial – jury – discharge of individual juror Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Rex (Crown) Engracio Songcuan (Accused) Representation: Counsel: A Robertson (Crown) B Royce (Counsel for the accused) Solicitors: Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Chidiac Lawyers (Accused) File Number(s): 2020/131543 extempore Judgment (revised) 1. The transcript will record that one of the expanded jury of fourteen jurors became unwell overnight, and although I do not have any medical evidence, I am of the view that the court officer has received and relayed to me credible and reliable information from a close relative of the juror, that it is unlikely that the juror will be fit to continue jury service in the near future. In the circumstances, where I have an expanded jury and the estimate for the trial is, in the way of these things, relatively short, I am of the view that juror G should be discharged and excused from further service on this jury. My order is, juror G is discharged for reasons of ill-health. 2. I have also discussed with counsel briefly whether there is any question about whether I should discharge the whole jury, given the circumstances, that is to say, that I have discharged juror G solely for health reasons, and it is unlikely, from what I have been told, with the nature of the condition, that any other member of the jury is likely to be affected, I can see no good reason to discharge the balance of the expanded jury. That is to say, I cannot see any possibility whatsoever of any miscarriage of justice occurring by continuing with thirteen rather than fourteen, and I therefore will continue the trial with the expanded jury of thirteen. ********** DISCLAIMER - Every effort has been made to comply with suppression orders or statutory provisions prohibiting publication that may apply to this judgment or decision. The onus remains on any person using material in the judgment or decision to ensure that the intended use of that material does not breach any such order or provision. Further enquiries may be directed to the Registry of the Court or Tribunal in which it was generated. Decision last updated: 03 March 2023