Romolo v R [2018] NSWCCA 3

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Romolo v R [2018] NSWCCA 3 Hearing dates: 22 November 2017 Decision date: 01 February 2018 Before: Macfarlan JA at [1]; Fullerton J at [45]; Button J at [85] Decision: (1) Grant leave to appeal. (2) Allow the appeal. (3) Quash the applicant's conviction of the offence charged in the Indictment filed in relation to him on 21 July 2016. (4) Direct a judgment and verdict of acquittal on that charge. (5) Direct that the applicant be released from custody forthwith. Catchwords: CRIME – appeal against conviction – applicant convicted of joint commission of import commercial quantity of methamphetamine – whether verdict unreasonable or cannot be supported by the evidence – whether prosecution had proved existence of an agreement between applicant and alleged co-offender

APPEALS – appeals against conviction – whether re-trial appropriate – re-trial would necessitate amendment of the indictment – Parker v The Queen (1997) 186 CLR 494 – verdict of acquittal entered Legislation Cited: Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW), ss 6(1), (2), 8(1) Criminal Appeal Rules Criminal Code (Cth), ss 11.2A(1), (2), (4), (5), (7), 307.1(1) Cases Cited: Dickson v R [2017] NSWCCA 78 Gilham v R [2012] NSWCCA 131 IL v The Queen (2017) 91 ALJR 764; [2017] HCA 27 Masri v R [2015] NSWCCA 243 Osland v The Queen (1998) 197 CLR 316; [1998] HCA 75 Parker v The Queen (1997) 186 CLR 494; [1997] HCA 15 R v Taufahema (2007) 228 CLR 232; [2007] HCA 11 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Gianmarco Romolo (Applicant) Regina (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: T Game SC / A Francis (Applicant) I Bourke SC / J Paingakulam (Respondent)