R v Simmons; R v Moore (No 4) [2015] NSWSC 259

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Simmons; R v Moore (No 4) [2015] NSWSC 259 Hearing dates: 9-10, 18 March 2015 Date of orders: 19 March 2015 Decision date: 19 March 2015 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal Before: Hamill J Decision: (1) Leave pursuant to s 132A Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) is granted. (2) Order that the accused is to be tried by judge alone pursuant to s 132 Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW). (3) The un-redacted version of this judgment is to be available to judicial officers, their staff and legal practitioners as a restricted judgment on the Judicial Information Research System (JIRS) in accordance with the protocols established by the Judicial Commission. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – trial by judge alone – application out of time – whether leave should be granted – appearance of judge shopping – unedifying spectacle – no judge shopping in present case – leave granted – "interests of justice" – factors to be taken into account – whether the issue of intention requires the application of objective community standards – whether jury has advantage over judge in assessing issues of credibility – jury as "the lamp that shows that freedom lives" – prejudicial evidence – where accused required to introduce evidence to conduct his defence – whether direction to jury capable of curing prejudice – "judicial wishful thinking" – application granted Legislation Cited: Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) Cases Cited: AK v Western Australia [2008] HCA 8; 232 CLR 438 Arthurs v Western Australia [2007] WASC 182 Brown v R [1986] HCA 11; 160 CLR 171 Coates v Western Australia [2009] WASCA 142 Donai v R [2011] NSWCCA 173 Doney v The Queen [1990] HCA 51; 171 CLR 207 Elomar, Hasan, Cheikho and Jamal v R [2014] NSWCCA 303 Gilbert v The Queen [2000] HCA 15; 201 CLR 414 Hawi v R [2014] NSWCCA 83 Kingswell v R [1985] HCA 72; 159 CLR 264 Mackenzie v The Queen [1996] HCA 35; 190 CLR 348 Makarov v R (No 3) [2008] NSWCCA 293 Murphy v R [1989] HCA 28; 167 CLR 94 R v Abrahams [2013] NSWSC 729 R v Annakin (1987) 17 NSWLR 202 R v Belghar [2012] NSWCCA 86; 217 A Crim R 1 R v Coles (1993) 31 NSWLR 550 R v Dean [2013] NSWSC 661 R v Fardon [2010] QCA 317 R v Farrow [2014] NSWSC 1781 R v Gittany [2013] NSWSC 1503 R v Glennon [1992] HCA 16; 173 CLR 592 R v GSR (3) [2011] NSWDC 17 R v King [2013] NSWSC 448 R v Markou [2011] NSWDC 25 R v McKnight [2014] NSWSC 398 R v Perry (1993) 29 NSWLR 589 R v Simmons; R v Moore (No 2) [2015] NSWSC 143 R v Simmons; R v Moore (No 3) [2015] NSWSC 189 R v Stanley [2013] NSWCCA 124 R v Tasich [2012] NSWDC 96 R v Villalon [2013] NSWSC 1516 R v White (1988) 17 NSWLR 195 Ward v James [1966] 1 QB 273 Texts Cited: Bagaric, Mirko, "The community interest in bringing suspects to trial trumps the right to an impartial decision maker – at least in Victoria" (2010) 34(1) Criminal Law Journal 5 New South Wales Legislative Council, Courts and Crimes Legislation Further Amendment Bill 2010, Second Reading Speech (Hansard), 24 November 2010 O'Leary, Jodie, "Twelve angry peers or one angry judge: An analysis of judge lone trials in Australia" (2011) 35(3) Criminal Law Journal 154 Lord Devlin, Trial By Jury (rev ed) (1966) Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Crown Tony James Simmons (Accused) Kieran Moore (Accused Representation: Counsel: P Barrett (Crown) P Young SC (Simmons) J Stratton SC (Moore)