Regina v Reid [1999] NSWCCA 258

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal CITATION : Regina v Reid [1999] NSWCCA 258 FILE NUMBER(S) : CCA 60620/98 HEARING DATE(S) : 25 May 1999 JUDGMENT DATE : 25 August 1999

PARTIES : Regina v Stephen John Reid JUDGMENT OF : Spigelman CJ at 1; Greg James J at 11; Smart AJ at 12

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : District Court LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : 96/11/0547 LOWER COURT JUDICIAL OFFICER : Naughton DCJ

COUNSEL : Appellant: R Burgess Respondent: P G Berman SOLICITORS : Appellant: T A Murphy Respondent: C K Smith CATCHWORDS : Criminal Law; Incorrect refusal of adjournment to locate witness Crown intended calling; Correct construction of s424A of Crimes Act Crimes Act, 1900 ACTS CITED : Evidence (Consequential & Other Provisions) Act 1995 Evidence Act 1995 CASES CITED: R v Horton, CCA unreported, 2 November 1998 R v Birks (1990) 19 NSWLR 67 DECISION : Appeal allowed conviction quashed; New trial ordered

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL

60620/98 SPIGELMAN CJ GREG JAMES J SMART AJ Wednesday, 23 August 1999 REGINA v Stephen John REID

HEADNOTE

R was convicted of maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent. The victim was behaving very aggressively and threatened and assaulted another man. R contended that the victim threatened to kill or seriously harm him. R armed himself with a golf club and struck the victim a number of times. The victim suffered serious injuries. The issue at the trial was whether the Crown had negatived that the accused had used no more force than was reasonably necessary.

F provided substantial support for R. The Crown had intended to call F but did not advise the accused until the morning of the trial that it had been unable to locate F and proposed to proceed without him. The judge refused to grant the accused an adjournment so he could have the opportunity to locate F.