R v Simmons (No 7) [2015] NSWSC 574

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Simmons (No 7) [2015] NSWSC 574 Hearing dates: 20-27 February,1-24 March (Pre-trial), 25-31 March, 1-30 April, 1-14 May 2015. Date of orders: 20 May 2015 Decision date: 20 May 2015 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal Before: Hamill J Decision: 1. I find the accused not guilty of the murder of Andrew Russell at Sofala between 1 and 20 June 2009. 2. On his plea of guilty and on the evidence adduced in the trial, I find the accused guilty of count 1 of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on 20-21 March 2009. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – VERDICT – murder – trial by judge alone – missing person and cold case murder investigation – whether missing person deceased – identification of victim – admissions made to undercover police – whether admissions reliable – consciousness of guilt – circumstantial evidence – whether accused guilty or not guilty Legislation Cited: Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) Evidence (Audio Visual Links) Act 1998 (NSW) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) Cases Cited: Fox v Percy [2003] HCA 22; 214 CLR 118 R v Rose [2002] NSWCCA 455; 55 NSWLR 701 R v Simmons; R v Moore (No 2) [2015] NSWSC 143 R v Simmons; R v Moore (No 3) [2015] NSWSC 189 R v Simmons; R v Moore (No 4) [2015] NSWSC 259 R v Simmons (No 6) [2015] NSWSC 418 RELC v The Queen [2006] NSWCCA 383; 167 A Crim R 484 Texts Cited: Australian Law Reform Commission Report, 102 Uniform Evidence Law (8 February 2006) Krug, The Relationship between Confidence and Accuracy (2007) 3(1) Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice 7 Loftus & Doyle, Eyewitness Testimony (1987) Odgers' Uniform Evidence Law (11th Edition) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Crown Tony James Simmons (Accused) Representation: Counsel: P Barrett (Crown) P Young SC (Simmons)