R v Garcia [2019] NSWSC 1004

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Garcia [2019] NSWSC 1004 Hearing dates: 30 July 2019 Date of orders: 30 July 2019 Decision date: 08 August 2019 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Wilson J Decision: Application granted. See [58] for orders. Catchwords: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE – trial of five accused persons for conspiracy to import border controlled drugs – three separate conspiracies alleged – application for separate trial by one accused – applicant indicted for a single conspiracy – whether evidence against one accused significantly different to, and weaker than that against co-accused – admissibility of evidence post-dating end of alleged involvement in conspiracy – question of prejudice to accused in joint trial – evidence to prove conspiracy – co-conspirators' rule – question of cost and convenience of separate trials – application granted Legislation Cited: Criminal Code 1995 (Cth), ss 11.5(1) and 307.1(1) Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), s 21(2)(b) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), s 191 Cases Cited: R v Lipton [2019] NSWSC 372 Tripodi v The Queen (1961) 104 CLR 1; [1961] HCA 22 Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Regina (Crown) Jose Garcia (Accused) Representation: Counsel: S Howell (Crown) J Stratton SC (Accused)

Solicitors: Solicitor for Public Prosecutions (Cth) (Crown) Bunton Lawyers (Accused) File Number(s): 2017/297422 Publication restriction: Judgment previously restricted pending finalisation of all co-accused trials and related appeals. Anonymised and/or redacted to excise any matters the subject of a non-publication order pursuant to s 7 of the Courts Suppression and Non-Publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW).