Regina v Pearce [2001] NSWCCA 447

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal

CITATION : Regina v Pearce [2001] NSWCCA 447 FILE NUMBER(S) : CCA 60053/01 HEARING DATE(S) : 30 May 2001 JUDGMENT DATE : 7 November 2001

PARTIES : Regina (Commonwealth) v Edward Spencer Pearce JUDGMENT OF : Dowd J at 1; Greg James J at 2; Smart AJ at 3

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : District Court LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : 00/11/0609 LOWER COURT JUDICIAL ADCJ Stewart OFFICER :

COUNSEL : (A) Mr J Glissan QC and Mr R Nicoll (C) Mr D J Fagan SC SOLICITORS : (A) Conway MacCallum (R) Cwealth DPP CATCHWORDS : Defrauding the Commonwealth (3 counts)- notional deduction of group tax - responsibility for not sending in employment declarations and for alterations to group number and company names - refusal of adjournment to allow further investigation - admissibility of statements made to ATO tax audit team - not obbtained improperly - ss 138 & 139 of Evidence Act - s 137 of Act - probative value not outweighed by danger of unfair prejudice - notes made by appellant as to meetings with ATO officers admissible as evidence of consciousness of guilt - no prejudice suffered by admission and later withdrawal of group tax summary as evidence to that effect given - ample evidence to support all counts - sentencing structure erroneous - appellant re-sentenced. LEGISLATION CITED : Evidence Act 1995 ss 50 137 138 139 Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) s 16G, s19AB Edwards v The Queen (1993) 178 CLR Peters v The Queen (1998) 192 CLR CASES CITED: Spies v The Queen (2000) 74 ALJR 1263 R v Bibaoui (1997) 87 A Crim R R v Jackson (1998-1999) 104 A Crim R Claude Bernier (1998) 102 A Crim R DECISION : See para 172