R v Pham; R v Nguyen; R v Trinh [2019] NSWSC 1539

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Pham; R v Nguyen; R v Trinh [2019] NSWSC 1539 Hearing dates: 04 November 2019 Decision date: 06 November 2019 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Hamill J Decision: (1) The jury are directed to return a verdict of not guilty in the case of Mr Pham. (2) The application of Mr Nguyen for a verdict of not guilty by direction is refused. (3) The application of Mr Trinh for a verdict of not guilty by direction is refused. Catchwords: CRIME – murder – applications for directed verdicts – six accused charged with murder – three accused make applications – circumstantial case – appropriate legal test – where cause of death stab wound to chest – where doubt over knowledge of the presence of a knife – distinction between rational inference and speculation Cases Cited: Bloodsworth v R [2019] NSWCCA 260 Doney v The Queen (1990) 171 CLR 207; [1990] HCA 51 Duong, Lu, Do & Tran (1992) 61 A Crim R 140 R v JMR (1991) 57 A Crim R 39 R v Le & Loeung [2019] NSWSC 632 R v Qaumi & Ors (No 59) [2016] NSWSC 1159 The Queen v A2, Magennis & Vaziri [2019] HCA 35 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Regina Jason Pham Voung Van Nguyen Minh Duc Trinh Representation: Counsel: L Lungo (Regina) R Wilson SC (Pham) B Hancock (Nguyen) S Schaudin (Trinh)