R v Warwick (No.41) [2018] NSWSC 1287

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Warwick (No.41) [2018] NSWSC 1287 Hearing dates: 17 August 2018 Date of orders: 17 August 2018 Decision date: 17 August 2018 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Garling J Decision: Certificate dated 15 August 1985 admitted pursuant to s 57 of the Evidence Act 1995 and marked as Exh 73 Catchwords: EVIDENCE – relevance – provisional relevance – certificate relating to carpet and cardboard taken from crime scene – admitted provisionally pursuant to Evidence Act 1995, s 57 Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995 Cases Cited: Not Applicable Texts Cited: Not Applicable Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: The Crown Leonard John Warwick (Accused) Representation: Counsel: K McKay / G Christofi (Crown) A R Conolly / E Ramsay (Accused)

Solicitors: Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) A R Conolly & Co (Accused) File Number(s): 2015/222068 Publication restriction: Not Applicable

EX TEMPORE Judgment (T.1779) 1. Application is made by the Crown to tender a Certificate dated 15 August 1985 signed by RJ Goetz, forensic biologist, of the Division of Forensic Medicine ("DFM") at Glebe. The Accused objects to its admission into evidence.

The Proposed Exhibit 1. The Certificate contains the results of testing carried out on what appeared to be bloodstains by Mr Goetz at the DFM upon a piece of cardboard and a piece of carpet. There is no dispute that such testing was within the skill and competence of Mr Goetz and the DFM. 2. The Certificate records a number "FS 85/306" which, by reference to the material in Exh T14, I am satisfied is a number allocated by the DFM to items received by it on 24 July 1985. These items, which consisted of a piece of carpet and some cardboard, had been delivered by Mr Raymond Constable, a former Constable attached to the Ballistics Unit of the New South Wales Police, to the DFM.