Regina v Samuel Noel LEVER [2001] NSWSC 1131

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Regina v Samuel Noel LEVER [2001] NSWSC 1131 FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 70040/97 HEARING DATE(S) : 22/10/01, 23/10/01, 24/10/01, 25/10/01, 26/10/01, 29/10/01, 30/10/01, 7/12/01 JUDGMENT DATE : 13 December 2001

PARTIES : Regina Samuel Noel LEVER JUDGMENT OF : Bell J at 1

COUNSEL : Dan Howard - Crown Stephen Odgers SC - Accused SOLICITORS : S E O'Connor Aboriginal Legal Service CATCHWORDS : Sentence LEGISLATION CITED : Crimes Act 1900 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 R v Blacklidge (unreported) NSWCCA, 12 December 1995 R v Edwards (1996) 90 A Crim R 510 Regina v Engert (1995) 84 A Crim R 67 CASES CITED : Regina v Fernando (1992) 65 A Crim R 98 Regina v Letteri (unreported) NSWCCA, 18 March 1992 Regina v Previtera (1997) 94 A Crim R 76 Veen (no. 2) v The Queen (1987/88) 164 CLR 465 DECISION : Sentence of ten years imprisonment to date from 11 March 1999; Non-parole period of six years; First date eligible for release on parole is 10 March 2005

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES CRIMINAL DIVISION 70040/97 BELL J

13 December 2001 REGINA v Samuel Noel LEVER

Judgment 1 BELL J: On 22 October 2001 the offender was arraigned before me on an indictment charging him that on 15 November 1996 at Fingal he did murder Linda Jo Lever. He pleaded not guilty to that charge and a jury was duly empanelled. On 30 October 2001 the jury returned a verdict of not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. 2 The sentence proceedings were stood over to 7 December 2001. On that date I received the reports of a number of psychiatrists and a psychologist, attached to the Corrections Health Service. The authors of those reports were cross-examined on them. I will return to this material in due course. 3 The deceased and the offender were married and lived in Fingal. The offender was aged thirty-six years at the date of the offence. He is Aboriginal.