Mamae v Regina [2002] NSWCCA 352

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal

CITATION : Mamae v Regina [2002] NSWCCA 352 FILE NUMBER(S) : CCA 60691/01 HEARING DATE(S) : 21 & 23 August 2002 JUDGMENT DATE : 23 August 2002

PARTIES : Junior Vaa Mamae v Regina JUDGMENT OF : Hodgson JA at 67, 69; Simpson J at 68; Smart AJ at 1

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : Supreme Court LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : 70029/01 LOWER COURT JUDICIAL Taylor AJ OFFICER :

COUNSEL : (A) D Dalton (R) L M B Lamprati SOLICITORS : (A) Nikola Velcic & Associates (R) S E O'Connor CATCHWORDS : Verdict of guilty of manslaughter unreasonable and not supported by the evidence. LEGISLATION CITED : Nil M v The Queen (1994) 181 CLR 487 CASES CITED: Jones v The Queen (1997) 191 CLR 439 Fleming v The Queen (1998) 197 CLR 250 DECISION : Appeal allowed - Conviction quashed - Verdict of acquittal entered.

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL 60691/01 HODGSON JA SIMPSON J SMART AJ

Friday, 23 August 2002

REGINA v JUNIOR VAA MAMAE JUDGMENT 1. SMART AJ: The appellant, Junior Vaa Mamae, appeals against his conviction of the manslaughter of Pieter Izak Hage (the deceased) and seeks leave to appeal against a sentence of imprisonment of 6 years with a non-parole period of 4 years. He was acquitted by the jury of murder.

2. The appellant complains that two of the judge's directions were inadequate and that he erred in not giving the jury a direction that the Crown had to accept the evidence of Jason Young beyond reasonable doubt. He also complains that the verdict was unsafe and unsatisfactory, that is, it was unreasonable and not supported by the evidence. As this last point has much substance it will be necessary to refer to the evidence in some detail. This point will be dealt with first.