R v Blackman (No 2) [2018] NSWSC 406

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Blackman (No 2) [2018] NSWSC 406 Hearing dates: 6 March 2018 – 12 March 2018 Date of orders: 20 March 2018 Decision date: 04 April 2018 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal Before: Button J Decision: (1) Certificate provided to the witness Thomas Miringaorangi pursuant to s 128 of the Evidence Act Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – special hearing conducted before judge alone – count of murder and alternative counts – provision of certificate protecting witness from self-incrimination – certificate repeatedly expanded to cover new topics – chronological explanation of that process – brief discussion of breadth of the concept of evidence that "may tend to prove" that the witness has committed an offence Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 316 Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), s 128 Cases Cited: Application concerning Section 80 of the Supreme Court Act and Sections 119 and 128 of the Evidence Act [2004] NSWSC 614 Rank Film Distributors Ltd v Video Information Centre [1982] AC 380 Sorby v Commonwealth [1983] HCA 10; (1983) 152 CLR 281 Texts Cited: J D Heydon, Cross On Evidence (11th edition, 2017, LexisNexis Butterworths) at 939 par [25175] Stephen Odgers, Uniform Evidence Law (12th edition, 2016, Thomson Reuters) at 1060 par [EA. 128.180] Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Regina Gary Clifford Blackman Representation: Counsel: P Rosser QC (Crown) J Watts (Accused)