Peter Antonio Garcia v R [2013] NSWCCA 241

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Peter Antonio Garcia v R [2013] NSWCCA 241 Hearing dates: 3 October 2013 Decision date: 31 October 2013 Before: Emmett JA at [1] R A Hulme J at [4] Bellew J at [5] Decision: 1.Leave to appeal granted. 2.Appeal dismissed. Catchwords: APPEAL - sentence - where applicant pleaded guilty to intentionally importing a quantity of pseudoephedrine - where evidence that applicant suffered from mild mental retardation - whether sentencing judge erred in failing to have regard to the effect of that condition upon moral culpability and general deterrence - where sentencing judge commenced with a starting point of 4 years and 2 months imprisonment against a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment - whether the adoption of that starting point was indicative of manifest excess - consideration of role played by applicant in importation - relevance of quantity of drug imported and applicant's knowledge of that quantity - limited use of statistics and other decisions said to be comparable - sentence not manifestly excessive - appeal dismissed Legislation Cited: Customs Act 1901 (Cth) Cases Cited: Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v De La Rosa [2010] NSWCCA 194; (2010) 79 NSWLR 1 Han v R [2009] NSWCCA 300 Jolly v R [2013] NSWCCA 76 Olbrich v R (1999) 199 CLR 270 R v Hili;R v Jones [2010] HCA 45; 242 CLR 520 Wong v R (2001) 207 CLR 584 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Peter Antonio Garcia - Applicant Regina - Respondent Representation: Mr G Brady - Applicant Mr G Farmer SC - Respondent Nyman Gibson Stewart - Applicant S Kavanagh Solicitor for Public Prosecutions - Respondent File Number(s): 2013 / 43022 Publication restriction: Nil Decision under appeal Jurisdiction: 9101 Date of Decision: 2013-05-24 00:00:00 Before: Knox DCJ