Santo v R [2011] NSWCCA 156

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Santo v R [2011] NSWCCA 156 Hearing dates: 15 June 2011 Decision date: 14 July 2011 Before: McClellan CJ at CL at [1] Hidden J at [29] Grove AJ at [30] Decision: 1. Grant leave to appeal. 2. Appeal dismissed. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW - sentence appeal - head sentence and non parole excessive - objective range of seriousness - error in findings of fact - totality principle - special circumstances - no error found - leave to appeal granted - appeal dismissed. Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 Cases Cited: Cahyadi v R (2007) 168 A Crim R 41 Perry v R (2006) NSWCCA 351 R v Dang (2005) NSWCCA 430 R v Fisher (2008) NSWCCA 103 R v Hammoud (2000) 118 A Crim R 66 R v Mulato (2006) NSWCCA 282 Stanford v R (2007) NSWCCA 73 Vuni v R [2006] NSWCCA 171 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Bianca Shandell Santo (Applicant) The Crown Representation: G Corr (Applicant) V Lydiard (Crown) Legal Aid Commission of NSW (Applicant) Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) File Number(s): 2008/19715 Decision under appeal Date of Decision: 2011-04-23 00:00:00 Before: Colefax DCJ File Number(s): 2008/19715

Judgment 1McCLELLAN CJ at CL : The applicant was convicted following a jury trial of one count of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm contrary to s 33(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1900 and one count of robbery whilst armed with wounding contrary to s 98 of the Crimes Act . The maximum penalty for each offence is 25 years imprisonment. Each offence has a standard non-parole period of 7 years. 2At the time that the applicant was being sentenced she was already serving a sentence for an offence of robbery in company which she committed on 30 March 2007 and for which she was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 4 years and 10 months with a non-parole period of 2 years and 10 months. For that offence she was eligible to be released on parole on 26 April 2011. 3The applicant was charged in relation to the present matters on 19 May 2008 and was in custody solely in relation to these matters from 20 May 2008 until 27 June 2008. The sentencing judge backdated the sentence to accommodate this period of custody. 4At the time the applicant committed the offences, that are the subject of this appeal on 14 May 2008, she was on conditional bail for the robbery in company offence. 5For each of the offences for which the applicant was found guilty by the jury she was sentenced to a period of 13 years imprisonment. A non-parole period of 9 years and 9 months commencing on 19 March 2011 and expiring on 18 December 2020 was imposed, with an additional term of 3 years and 3 months commencing on 19 December 2020 and expiring on 18 March 2024. The sentences were made concurrent. 6The applicant seeks leave to raise six grounds of appeal as follows: