Grozdanov v The Queen

[2012] VSCA 94

Victorian Court of Appeal

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

See how it works

Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Criminal Law
2. › Drug offences
3. › Cultivation of narcotic plant
4. › Meaning of 'cultivate'
5. › Whether ongoing maintenance of hydroponic system amounts to 'tending' or 'nurturing'
6. › Whether includes activities 'associated with' activities listed in statutory definition
7. › Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (Vic), s 70
1. Criminal Law
2. › Trial
3. › Jury directions
4. › Direction on element of offence
5. › Whether trial judge usurped jury's fact-finding function
6. › Whether direction that servicing watering system constituted cultivation amounted to direction to convict
1. Criminal Law
2. › Appeal
3. › Conviction appeal
4. › Misdirection
5. › Whether misdirection on one count infects convictions on other counts
6. › Separate consideration direction

Quick Take

Ongoing maintenance of a hydroponic system that regularly delivers water and nutrients to a cannabis crop constitutes 'tending' or 'nurturing' within s 70(b) of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (Vic), and thus amounts to cultivation. However, isolated or infrequent repair visits may not suffice. Whether particular maintenance activity amounts to cultivation is a question of fact for the jury, and a trial judge must not direct the jury that servicing a watering system necessarily constitutes cultivation as a matter of law.