The Court refused the accused's application for trial by judge alone under s 132(4) of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), holding that the interests of justice favoured the conventional approach of trial by jury. The Court found that risks of prejudice from context evidence (prior AVO breaches) and post-offence conduct (destruction of evidence) could be adequately ameliorated by standard jury directions, particularly where the accused had already pleaded guilty to the alternative serious charge. The Court also held that the drawing of inferences as to intent and assessments of credibility and reliability were preferably undertaken by a jury of twelve, and doubted that the question of the accused's subjective intention to kill engaged 'objective community standards' under s 132(5).
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 1 later case that cites this judgment.
1 of the 1 citing case carries a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.