R v Doncev [2001] NSWCCA 440

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal

CITATION : R v Doncev [2001] NSWCCA 440 FILE NUMBER(S) : CCA 60587/00 HEARING DATE(S) : 24 October 2001 JUDGMENT DATE : 1 November 2001

PARTIES : Regina v Kosta Doncev JUDGMENT OF : Spigelman CJ at 1; Studdert J at 2; Ireland AJ at 51

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : District Court LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : 96/11/0482 LOWER COURT JUDICIAL Dodd DCJ OFFICER :

COUNSEL : G.J. Bellew (Crown) M. Thangaraj (Appellant) SOLICITORS : Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) The Law Practice (Appellant) CATCHWORDS : Criminal law - appeal against conviction - appellant gave evidence at trial - cross examined by Crown Prosecutor - subsequent submission concerning "lies" - whether necessary for jury to be directed concerning "lies". LEGISLATION CITED : Customs Act Evidence Act Edwards v The Queen (1993) 178 CLR 193 CASES CITED: Zoneff v The Queen (2000) 200 CLR 234 R v GJH [2001] NSWCCA 128 R v Patterson [2001] NSWCCA 316 DECISION : Appeal dismissed.

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL 60587/00 SPIGELMAN CJ STUDDERT J IRELAND AJ

Thursday 1 November 2001 REGINA v KOSTA DONCEV

Judgment 1 SPIGELMAN CJ: I agree with Studdert J. 2 STUDDERT J: The appellant, Kosta Doncev, stood trial in August 2000 charged with an offence under s 233B(1)(c) of the Customs Act of having in his possession without reasonable excuse a quantity of 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (commonly known as ecstasy) which had been imported into Australia in contravention of the Act. The charge alleged a trafficable quantity of the drug was involved. The jury found the appellant guilty and he was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of six years with a non parole period of three years, and the sentence commenced on 31 August 2000. 3 The appellant appeals against his conviction; he does not seek leave to appeal against sentence should the appeal against conviction fail. 4 Before considering the various grounds of appeal, it is desirable to outline the evidence relied upon by the Crown.