R v Woods; R v Hayes; R v McLachlan; R v Harding; R v Farnsworth [2023] NSWSC 1163

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Woods; R v Hayes; R v McLachlan; R v Harding; R v Farnsworth [2023] NSWSC 1163 Hearing dates: 20 September 2023; 21 September 2023; 25 September 2023 Date of orders: 26 September 2023 Decision date: 26 September 2023 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Yehia J Decision: Application Granted Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW — Hearsay evidence — Evidence contained in police statements — Where witness refers to statements to refresh memory — Where portions of statements read aloud — Whether evidence of previous representations read aloud pursuant to s 32(3) of the Evidence Act is hearsay — Direction warning the jury that the evidence may be unreliable — Significant forensic disadvantage caused to the accused by reason of the witness's lack of recollection Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), ss 32, 32(2), 32(3), 38, 63(2), 165, 165(1)(a), 165(2), 165B Cases Cited: CSR Ltd v Amaca Pty Ltd [2016] VSCA 320 Debresay v The Queen [2017] VSCA 263 Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Rex (Crown) Phillip Woods (Accused) Brenton Hayes (Accused) Brendan McLachlan (Accused) Jace Harding (Accused) Brian Farnsworth (Accused) Representation: Counsel: D Scully SC / K Mackenzie (Crown) A Betts (P Woods) S Schaudin (B Hayes) S Pararajasingham (B McLachlan) J Stratton SC / H Webb (J Harding) A Radojev (B Farnsworth)