AGIUS v R [2015] NSWCCA 200

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: AGIUS v R [2015] NSWCCA 200 Hearing dates: 17 October 2014 Date of orders: 05 August 2015 Decision date: 05 August 2015 Before: Bathurst CJ at [1]; R A Hulme J at [1144]; Bellew J at [1145] Decision: Appeal against conviction dismissed. Leave to appeal against sentence granted but appeal dismissed. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – conviction appeal - conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth of tax revenue under s 86(1) and s 29D of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) – conspiracy to dishonestly cause a loss or deliberately cause a risk of loss to the Commonwealth of income tax under s 135.4(5) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) – proving the requisite state of affairs for conspiracy – stages of a conspiratorial agreement

CRIMINAL LAW – conviction appeal - whether trial judge erred in failing to direct jury to acquit at close of Crown case – whether verdict unreasonable or could not be supported by evidence

CRIMINAL LAW – conviction appeal – whether misdirection in summing up to jury – whether misdirections on unreliability under s 165(1)(d) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) – whether misdirection in clearly identifying the knowledge, belief or intent said to render conduct dishonest – whether misdirection on co-accused giving evidence – whether misdirection on treating the evidence of witnesses with caution

CRIMINAL LAW – sentencing appeal – whether error in assessing objective seriousness of offence – whether disparity between sentence of appellant and co-accused gave rise to justifiable sense of grievance – whether sentence manifestly excessive – whether adequate regard had to sentences imposed in other cases Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) Cases Cited: Agius v The Queen [2013] HCA 27; 248 CLR 601 Azzopardi v The Queen [2001] HCA 25; 205 CLR 50 Brown v The Queen [2006] NSWCCA 69 Chen v R [2009] NSWCCA 66 Cheung v The Queen [2001] HCA 67; 209 CLR 1 Director of Public Prosecutions v Doot (1973) AC 807 Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v De La Rosa [2010] NSWCCA 194; 79 NSWLR 1 Doney v The Queen [1990] HCA 51; 171 CLR 207 DPP v Goldberg [2001] VSCA 107; 184 ALR 387 Gerakiteys v R [1984] HCA 8; 153 CLR 317 Green v The Queen; Quinn v The Queen [2011] HCA 49; 244 CLR 462 Hili v The Queen; Jones v The Queen [2010] HCA 45; 242 CLR 520 Libke v The Queen [2007] HCA 30; 230 CLR 559 Lowe v The Queen [1984] HCA 46; 154 CLR 606 M v The Queen [1994] HCA 63; 181 CLR 487 Macleod v The Queen [2003] HCA 24; 214 CLR 230 Peters v The Queen [1998] HCA 7; 192 CLR 493 R v Agius, R v Abibadra, R v Jandagi, R v Zerafa (Supreme Court (NSW), Simpson J, undated, unrep) R v Agius; R v Zerafa [2012] NSWSC 978 R v Fowler [2003] NSWCCA 321; 151 A Crim R 166 R v Huston [2011] QCA 350; 219 A Crim R 209 R v Isaacs (1997) 41 NSWLR 374 R v Jones; R v Hili [2010] NSWCCA 108; 79 NSWLR 143 R v LK [2010] HCA 17; 241 CLR 177 R v Ronen [2006] NSWCCA 123; 161 A Crim R 300 R v Ruha [2010] QCA 10; 198 A Crim R 430 R v Zerafa [2013] NSWCCA 222 Saffron v The Queen (1988) 17 NSWLR 395 SKA v The Queen [2011] HCA 13; 243 CLR 400 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Robert Francis Agius (Appellant) Regina (Respondent) Representation: I Barker QC / P Coady (Appellant) P Neil SC / A McGrath (Respondent)