Wildsmith v R [2012] NSWCCA 116

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Wildsmith v R [2012] NSWCCA 116 Hearing dates: 7 February 2012 Decision date: 04 June 2012 Before: McClellan CJ at CL at [1] Johnson J at [67] Rothman J at [68] Decision: 1. Grant leave to appeal. 2. Dismiss the appeal. Catchwords: Criminal - appeal - conviction - whether verdict inconsistent - whether verdict unreasonable or unsupported by the evidence - where evidence of witnesses was inconsistent - where witnesses may be criminally concerned. Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995 Cases Cited: M v The Queen [1994] HCA 63; (1994) 181 CLR 487 Osland v The Queen (1998) 197 CLR 316 R v NZ [2005] NSWCCA 278; (2005) 63 NSWLR 628 SKA v The Queen [2011] HCA 13; 243 CLR 400 Category: Principal judgment Parties: David Wildsmith (Applicant) The Crown Representation: E Ozen (Applicant) N Noman (Crown) Benjamin Leonardo Lawyers (Applicant) Solicitor for Public Prosecutions (Crown) File Number(s): 2009/4327 Decision under appeal Citation: [2010] NSWSC 495 Date of Decision: 2010-05-28 00:00:00 Before: Kirby J File Number(s): 2009/4327

Judgment 1McCLELLAN CJ at CL: The applicant was convicted following a trial of the murder of James Tautari on 27 December 2007. He stood trial along with four co-accused: Luke Tatchell; AC; AA and SS. The applicant and Tatchell were slightly older than 18, the others were slightly younger. 2All of the co-accused were convicted but only the applicant and Tatchell were convicted of murder. The other younger co-accused were acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter. 3The applicant raises two grounds of appeal.