R v Saurav MAHAY; Michael Dean KHAN, Dushand RANA [2010] NSWDC 343

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: R v Saurav MAHAY; Michael Dean KHAN, Dushand RANA [2010] NSWDC 343

JUDGMENT DATE: 27 August 2010

JURISDICTION: District Court of New South Wales

JUDGMENT OF: Cogswell SC DCJ

DECISION: Evidence of the first call not to be admitted. The balance of the calls are admissible.

CATCHWORDS: CRIME - jury trial - specially aggravated detain for ransom - intercepted telephone calls - one co-accused not a party to any of the intercepted calls - application by Crown to tender calls against accused who is not a party to the calls as admissions - whether what was said in the calls was said in furtherance of a common purpose - meaning of 'in furtherance of' - meaning of 'reasonably open'

LEGISLATION CITED: Evidence Act 1995 s 87, s 135

Ahern v The Queen (1988) 165 CLR 87 Ingot Capital Investments Pty Ltd v Macquarie Equity Capital Markets Ltd (No 4) [2006] NSWSC 90 CASES CITED: Jackson v TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd [2002] NSWSC 1229 Landini v New South Wales [2007] NSWSC 259 Tripodi v The Queen (1961) 104 CLR 1

Regina PARTIES: Saurav Mahay Michael Dean Khan Dushand Rana

FILE NUMBER(S): 2008/82064; 2008/211508; 2008/254927

Mr S De Silva for the Director of Public Prosecutions COUNSEL: Ms K Stares for Mr Khan Ms ST Hall for Mr Rana

SOLICITORS: Mr WJ Sandilands for Mr Mahay

JUDGMENT

1. Michael Dean Khan has been charged with kidnapping. He is jointly charged with two other accused, Saurav Mahay and Dushand Rana.

2. Part of the prosecution case was evidence of intercepted telephone calls. The parties to the telephone calls included, at various stages, Mr Khan's co-accused Mr Mahay and Mr Rana and other persons. Mr Khan himself is not a party to any of those telephone calls.