Gonzales v R

Judgment

1. There is before the Court an application filed by Sef Gonzales on 18 November 2019 pursuant to s 78 of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW), for an inquiry into his convictions for the three murders. On 20 May 2004 the applicant was found guilty of the murders of his sister Chlodine Gonzales and his parents, Teddy and Mary Gonzales. On 17 September 2004 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for each of the three offences.
2. On 27 March 2007 the applicant filed a notice of appeal against each conviction and an application for leave to appeal against sentence. He required an extension of time. On 27 November 2007 the Court of Criminal Appeal made the following orders: 1 Extend the time for filing the notice of appeal and application for leave to appeal up to and including 21 May 2007. 2 Dismiss the appeal against conviction. 3 Grant leave to appeal against sentence but dismiss the appeal.
3. The Court of Criminal Appeal's reasons are: Gonzales v R [2007] NSWCCA 321. It appears that the applicant did not apply for special leave to appeal to the High Court.
4. The applicant has made two prior applications to this Court pursuant to s 78 of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act. The first application was made on 7 June 2017 and was dismissed by Adamson J on 29 May 2018: Application by Sef Gonzales pursuant to s 78 Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW) [2018] NSWSC 787 ("Adamson J's judgment"). The second application was made on 8 August 2018 and was dismissed by McCallum J on 29 October 2019: Application by Sef Gonzales pursuant to s 78 Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW) (No 2) [2019] NSWSC 1412 ("McCallum J's judgment").
5. The following extracts from sections 78 and 79 of the Act are relevant to determination of the present application: 78 Applications to Supreme Court (1) An application for an inquiry into a conviction or sentence may be made to the Supreme Court by the convicted person or by another person on behalf of the convicted person. (2) The registrar of the Criminal Division of the Supreme Court must cause a copy of any application made under this section to be given to the Minister. 79 Consideration of applications (1) After considering an application under section 78 or on its own motion - (a) the Supreme Court may direct that an inquiry be conducted by a judicial officer into the conviction or sentence, or (b) the Supreme Court may refer the whole case to the Court of Criminal Appeal, to be dealt with as an appeal under the Criminal Appeal Act 1912. (2) Action under subsection (1) may only be taken if it appears that there is a doubt or question as to the convicted person's guilt, as to any mitigating circumstances in the case or as to any part of the evidence in the case. (3) The Supreme Court may refuse to consider or otherwise deal with an application. Without limiting the foregoing, the Supreme Court may refuse to consider or otherwise deal with an application if - (a) it appears that the matter - (i) has been fully dealt with in the proceedings giving rise to the conviction or sentence (or in any proceedings on appeal from the conviction or sentence), or (ii) has previously been dealt with under this Part […] […] and (b) the Supreme Court is not satisfied that there are special facts or special circumstances that justify the taking of further action. […] (4) Proceedings under this section are not judicial proceedings. However, the Supreme Court may consider any written submissions made by the Crown with respect to an application.