Merheb v R [2024] NSWCCA 145

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Merheb v R [2024] NSWCCA 145 Hearing dates: 24 July 2024 Date of orders: 9 August 2024 Decision date: 09 August 2024 Before: Mitchelmore JA at [1] Davies J at [2] Ierace J at [63] Decision: (1) Grant leave to appeal. (2) Dismiss the appeal. Catchwords: CRIME – appeals – appeal against sentence – misapplication of principle – dealing with property reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime -whether sentencing judge breached De Simoni principle – where absolute liability applied to mental element of the offence - whether sentencing judge drew inference about the mental element to sentence for a more serious offence – sentencing remarks do not disclose any such inference CRIME – appeals – appeal against sentence – denial of procedural fairness – offender with gambling addiction - whether sentencing judge introduced into his deliberations evidence that was not before him – whether applicant's attendance at a video game convention involved a form of gambling – whether applicant was provided the opportunity to make submissions on the matter – where applicant did not show that he had addressed his gambling addiction generally – where applicant's continued gambling did not affect the assessment of the applicant's prospect of reoffending – no denial of procedural fairness Legislation Cited: Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) ss 5.5, 134.2, 371.1, 400.4, 400.9 Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) s 144 Cases Cited: House v The King (1936) 55 CLR 499; 1936 HCA 40 Smith v R [2024] NSWCCA 59; (2024) 93 MVR 345 The Queen v De Simoni (1981) 147 CLR 383; [1981] HCA 31 Weir v R [2011] NSWCCA 123 Texts Cited: Nil Category: Principal judgment Parties: Salim Merheb (Applicant) The King (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: B Barrack (Applicant) D K Jordan (Respondent)