Mohana v R [2023] NSWCCA 61

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Mohana v R [2023] NSWCCA 61 Hearing dates: 10 October 2022 Date of orders: 22 March 2023 Decision date: 22 March 2023 Before: Simpson AJA at [1] Davies J at [111] Wilson J at [112] Decision: 1. Leave to appeal granted 2. Appeal dismissed Catchwords: CRIME – appeals – appeal against conviction – supply of prohibited drug – trial by judge alone – unreasonable verdict – application of Dansie v The Queen – inutility of a ground asserting inadequacy of reasons or fact-finding where verdict is said to be unreasonable CRIME – appeals – appeal against conviction – unreasonable verdict – Crimes Act ss 93S(1) and 93T(1) – knowingly participate in a criminal group – whether proof of a "criminal group" requires proof of a "shared objective" – whether shared objective must relate to commission of a single serious indictable offence rather than a series of connected offences – where asserted participants in criminal group included both vendors and purchasers of prohibited drug – that purchasers sought to engage in further and distinct supply of drugs does not preclude finding of shared objective – no error CRIME – appeals – appeal against conviction – unreasonable verdict – knowingly take part in supply of prohibited drug not less than a large commercial quantity – no drugs found by investigating authorities – recorded and intercepted audio and video surveillance sufficient to ground conviction CRIME – appeals – appeal against conviction – trial by judge alone – failure to make a necessary finding of fact – unreasonable verdict – knowingly deal with the proceeds of crime – asserted failure by trial judge to identify moneys with which applicant dealt – relevant moneys sufficiently identified despite no explicit reference – no error Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) ss 93S, 93T, 193B Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) s 53A, Pt 4 Div 1A Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) s 5 Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) ss 132, 133, 166 Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW) s 25, Sch 1 Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW) Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth) Cases Cited: Czako v R [2015] NSWCCA 202 Dansie v The Queen [2022] HCA 25; (2022) 96 ALJR 728 Filippou v The Queen (2015) 256 CLR 47; [2015] HCA 29 M v The Queen (1994) 181 CLR 487; [1994] HCA 63 MFA v The Queen (2002) 212 CLR 606; [2002] HCA 53 Pell v The Queen (2020) 268 CLR 123; [2020] HCA 12 SKA v The Queen (2011) 243 CLR 499; [2011] HCA 13 The Queen v Baden-Clay (2016) 258 CLR 308; [2016] HCA 35 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Bilal Mohana (Applicant) The Crown (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: P Lange (Applicant) I Nash (Respondent)