R v Qaumi & Ors (No 41) [2016] NSWSC 857

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Qaumi & Ors (No 41) [2016] NSWSC 857 Hearing dates: 22 & 23 June 2016 Date of orders: 23 June 2016 Decision date: 23 June 2016 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal Before: Hamill J Decision: Application to discharge individual juror refused. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – application to discharge juror – apprehended bias – smiling juror – whether interaction constituted flirting – observations of police officers and solicitor – whether observations capable of being made – shortest view in Supreme Court history – whether conduct gave rise to reasonable apprehension of bias – whether conduct "persistent" –what is wrong with smiling?

CRIMINAL LAW – application to discharge juror – whether juror disobeyed direction – where no allegation of misconduct leading to mandatory discharge – proper inferences to be drawn from snippet of conversation overheard in street – whether constitutes "other reason affecting the juror's ability to perform the functions of a juror" Legislation Cited: Jury Act 1977 (NSW) Cases Cited: Avery v Registrar of Briths Deaths and Marriages (No 2) [2014] NSWCATAP 43 CUR24 v DPP [2012] NSWCA 65 Ebner v Official Trustee in Bankruptcy [2000] HCA 63; 205 CLR 337 Johnson v Johnson [2000] HCA 48; 201 CLR 488 R v Qaumi & Ors (No 8) [2016] NSWSC 184 R v Qaumi & Ors (No 36) [2016] NSWSC 718 Webb and Hay v The Queen [1994] HCA 30; 181 CLR 41 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Regina Farhad Qaumi Mumtaz Qaumi Jamil Qaumi Mohammed Zarshoy Mohammed Kalal Representation: Counsel: K McKay & P Hogan (Crown) J Stratton SC & M Curry (F Qaumi) P Young SC (M Quami) N Carroll(J Quami) R Driels (Zarshoy) G Clarke (Kalal)