Rassi v R [2023] NSWCCA 119

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Rassi v R [2023] NSWCCA 119 Hearing dates: 29 March 2023 Date of orders: 29 March 2023, 25 May 2023 Decision date: 25 May 2023 Before: Beech-Jones CJ at [1]; Button J at [15]; Hamill J at [18] Decision: (1) Leave granted to argue Grounds 1 and 2. (2) Allow the appeal on Ground 1. (3) Quash the appellant's convictions on counts 2 to 5. (4) Order a new trial. (5) List the matter in the arraignments list in the District Court at Sydney on 26 May 2023. Catchwords: CRIME – appeal against conviction – jury irregularity – where judgment on admissibility mistakenly included in juror's folder – individual juror discharged – decision to continue with jury of 11 – whether risk of miscarriage – inconsistent versions of whether document had been discussed or seen by remaining jurors – miscarriage established CRIME – tendency evidence – directions – construction of s 161A Criminal Procedure Act – standard of proof – danger of circular reasoning process – Shepherd direction – reliance on both charged and uncharged acts – potential for misuse of evidence – potential for jury to apply wrong standard of proof to charges – need for directions to guard against prejudice – whether directions occasioned miscarriage – proposed directions flatly contrary to statute – ground of appeal dismissed Legislation Cited: Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), s 161A Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), s 97(1)(b) Jury Act 1977 (NSW), s 53B Cases Cited: Abdallah v R [2016] NSWCCA 275 Addo v R (2022) 108 NSWLR 522; [2022] NSWCCA 141 Beattie v R [2021] NSWCCA 291 BRC v R (2020) 284 A Crim R 124; [2020] NSWCCA 176 Carbone v R [2020] NSWCCA 318 Chamberlain v The Queen [No 2] (1984) 153 CLR 521; [1984] HCA 7 Crofts v The Queen (1996) 186 CLR 427; [1996] HCA 22 Elomar v R; Hasan v R; Cheikho v R; Cheikho v R; Jamal v R [2014] NSWCCA 303 Gardiner v R [2023] NSWCCA 89 Hadchiti v R [2016] NSWCCA 63 Haile v R [2022] NSWCCA 71 Hayne v R [2022] NSWCCA 11 Hughes v The Queen (2017) 263 CLR 338; [2017] HCA 20 IMM v The Queen (2016) 257 CLR 300; HCA 14 Ith v R [2012] NSWCCA 70 JS v R [2022] NSWCCA 145 Kanbut v R [2022] NSWCCA 259 Perry v The Queen (1982) 150 CLR 580; [1982] HCA 75 Phan v R [2018] NSWCCA 225 R v Brown and Tran (2004) 148 A Crim R 268; [2004] NSWCCA 324 R v Forbes (2005) 160 A Crim R 1; [2005] NSWCCA 377 R v Hong [2009] NSWCCA 242 R v SK [2011] NSWCCA 292 SB v R [2020] NSWCCA 207 Shepherd v The Queen (1990) 170 CLR 573; [1990] HCA 56 Smith v R (2010) 79 NSWLR 675; [2010] NSWCCA 325 Taylor v The Queen [2020] NSWCCA 355 The Queen v Bauer (a pseudonym) (2018) 266 CLR 56; [2018] HCA 40 Watson v R [2022] NSWCCA 208 Wilson v The Queen (1992) 174 CLR 313; [1992] HCA 31 Wu v The Queen (1999) 199 CLR 99; [1999] HCA 52 Texts Cited: Criminal Trial Courts Bench Book New South Wales Legislative Council, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 20 October 2020 Sentencing Bench Book Category: Principal judgment Parties: Ferdinand Rassi (Appellant) Director of Public Prosecutions (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: T Game SC and D McMahon (Appellant) G Newton SC (Respondent)