R v Warwick (No.67) [2019] NSWSC 536

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Warwick (No.67) [2019] NSWSC 536 Hearing dates: 10 May 2019 Date of orders: 10 May 2019 Decision date: 10 May 2019 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal Before: Garling J Decision: See [16] Catchwords: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE – trial – case management – listing for resumption of trial – change of solicitors and counsel – consideration of the accused's right not to be tried unfairly l and the proper administration of justice Legislation Cited: Not Applicable Cases Cited: R v Warwick (No.64) [2019] NSWSC 163 Texts Cited: Not Applicable Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: The Crown Leonard John Warwick (Accused) Representation: Counsel: K McKay / G Christofi (Crown) E Ozen SC / S Climo (Accused)

Solicitors: Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Legal Aid NSW (Accused) File Number(s): 2015/222068 Publication restriction: Not Applicable

EX TEMPORE Judgment (T.6117) 1. The Court has engaged today in the determination of the appropriate dates for the resumption and further conduct of this part-heard trial.

Background 1. On 15 May 2018, the trial of the charges against the Accused commenced. Evidence was first taken on 16 July 2018. The Accused was first arraigned before me on 3 March 2017, and with the consent of his then counsel, a trial date was fixed for 16 February 2018. That fixture was on the basis that a period of 11 months would be a more than adequate time for the resolution of all outstanding pre-trial issues and the proper preparation of the proceedings. 2. I have recounted the chequered path of this trial in previous judgments of this Court which it is unnecessary to repeat. As the recent decision R v Warwick (No.64) [2019] NSWSC 163 demonstrates, the lawyers who acted for the Accused throughout 2018 determined that they would cease to act for him at the commencement of the law term in 2019. Consequently, a grant of legal aid was sought. The grant was made to the Accused in early March 2019.