R v CLD [2015] NSWCCA 114

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: R v CLD [2015] NSWCCA 114 Hearing dates: 11 March 2015 Decision date: 27 May 2015 Before: Meagher JA; Simpson J; Schmidt J Decision: 1.Appeal allowed. 2.Verdict of acquittal on charge of manslaughter quashed. 3.Order a new trial on the charge of manslaughter. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – appeal under s 107(2) of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW) against directed verdict of acquittal – manslaughter by an unlawful and dangerous act carrying with it an appreciable risk of serious injury – elements of Crown case – where death occurred as a result of the explosion of a drug manufacturing operation – where the Crown relied on the act of manufacturing pseudoephedrine by the evaporation of potentially explosive solvent in a small unventilated space with multiple potential ignition sources as the relevant act – whether Crown had to prove the actual source of ignition in order to character the relevant act as dangerous

CRIMINAL LAW – appeal under s 107(2) of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW) against directed verdict of acquittal – manslaughter by an unlawful and dangerous act carrying with it an appreciable risk of serious injury – elements of Crown case – where death occurred as a result of the explosion of a drug manufacturing operation – whether Crown had to prove the actual source of ignition to establish causation – whether Crown needed to negate all possible sources of ignition that were consistent with innocence because they broke the chain of causation – whether the trial judge erred in not leaving the question of causation to the jury Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), ss 24, 18(2) Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW), s 107 Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW), s 24 Cases Cited: Attorney-General's Reference (No 1 of 1983) [1983] 2 VR 410 Burns v The Queen [2012] HCA 35; 246 CLR 334 Campbell v The Queen [1981] WAR 286 Doney v The Queen [1990] HCA 51; 171 CLR 207 Lane v R [2013] NSWCCA 317 May v O'Sullivan [1955] HCA 38; 92 CLR 654 McAuliffe v The Queen [1995] HCA 37; 183 CLR 108 Osland v The Queen [1998] HCA 75; 197 CLR 316 R v J M R (1991) 57 A Crim R 39 R v Lin (No 2) [2014] NSWSC 1710 R v LK [2010] HCA 17; 241 CLR 177 R v Pagett (1983) 76 Cr App R 279 R v PL [2009] NSWCCA 256; 199 A Crim R 199 R v PL [2012] NSWCCA 31 R v R (1989) 18 NSWLR 74 Royall v The Queen [1991] HCA 27; 172 CLR 378 Wainohu v New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; 243 CLR 181 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Regina (Crown) CLD (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: S Dowling SC (Crown) D Dalton SC with N Siafakas (Respondent)