R v Deborah Joy Davidson & Anor [2000] NSWSC 188

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : R v Deborah Joy Davidson & Anor [2000] NSWSC 188 FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 70205/99; 70206/99 HEARING DATE(S) : 15 March 2000 JUDGMENT DATE : 15 March 2000

Regina v Deborah Joy Davidson PARTIES : Regina v Mark William Helmhout JUDGMENT OF : Bell J

C: Mr R D Cogswell SC COUNSEL : DD: Mr J S Stratton MH: Mr G Corr C: D Knott, Director of Public Prosecutions SOLICITORS : DD: Brenda Duchen MH: J R Jeffery, South Eastern Aboriginal Legal Service CATCHWORDS : CRIMINAL LAW - Application for verdict by direction - Accessory after the fact to murder - whether failure to establish prima facie case DECISION : Declined

THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES CRIMINAL DIVISION

BELL J

WEDNESDAY 15 MARCH 2000 70205/99 - REGINA v DEBORAH JOY DAVIDSON 70206/99 - REGINA v MARK WILLIAM HELMHOUT

JUDGMENT - Application for Verdict by Direction

1 HER HONOUR: Mr Stratton submits that the Crown has failed to establish a prima facie case as against his client, the accused Deborah Davidson, and accordingly he seeks a verdict by direction. It is Mr Stratton's submission that at the time the accused performed the acts relied upon by the Crown as constituting her an accessory after the fact to murder, the Crown had failed to exclude the reasonable possibility that the deceased, Paul Harris, was still alive. 2 Mr Stratton pointed to evidence that no person at the unit had made any checks to determine whether the deceased was indeed dead. 3 Dr Jain and Dr Duflou considered that the evidence of an accumulation of blood in the left pleural cavity was suggestive that fractures to the left rib region were sustained whilst the deceased was still alive. This, it was submitted, points to the deceased being alive at a time after the last episode of strangling, having regard to the chronology of events described by the witness, Edward Szkudelski. 4 On such a view some further act or acts causing, or significantly contributing, to the death of the deceased may have occurred after the body was carried out of the Trinculo Place unit. 5 The accused could not be an accessory after the fact if the crime was not complete when she provided assistance to the principal felon. 6 Drs Jain and Duflou both expressed the opinion that the death of the deceased was due to strangulation. The evidence of the witness, Edward Szkudelski, in combination with the medical evidence, would in my view permit the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the deceased was killed in the unit at 10/30 Trinculo Place, and that the accused, Deborah Davidson, was aware of the commission of that offence at the time she did the acts upon which the Crown relies. 7 Accordingly, I decline the application. **********