Lane v R [2017] NSWCCA 46

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Lane v R [2017] NSWCCA 46 Hearing dates: 21 October 2016 Date of orders: 22 March 2017 Decision date: 22 March 2017 Before: Meagher JA at [1]; Davies J at [1]; Fagan J at [107] Decision: 1. The time for the appellant to give notice of the appeal on grounds 1, 2 and 3 be extended to 5pm on 17 June 2016. 2. The time for the appellant to give notice of the appeal on ground 4 be extended to 5pm on 18 October 2016. 3. Grant the appellant leave to appeal on grounds 1 and 4. 4. Dismiss the appeal against conviction on grounds 1, 2, 3 and 4. Catchwords: CRIME – conviction appeal – manslaughter – where two separate acts of the appellant relied on as constituting the voluntary act causing death – whether trial judge erred in not directing jury that they could not convict unless they were unanimous as to the voluntary act or acts which resulted in their verdict – whether proviso in s 6(1) of Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) applicable

CRIME – conviction appeal – manslaughter – where references by Crown before jury to "king hit" offence and where handwritten material found in jury room at conclusion of trial which urged the stopping of "coward" punches – whether "miscarriage of justice" within third limb of s 6(1) – whether reasonable basis for apprehending that the jury or a juror had not discharged task impartially

CRIME – conviction appeal – manslaughter – where note containing extracts of dictionary definitions including "murder" and "manslaughter" found in jury room at conclusion of trial – whether miscarriage of justice – whether reasonable basis for apprehending that a juror had not considered the evidence and the charges made in accordance with the directions of the trial judge