NSW Crime Commission v Field

Supreme Court of NSW|2008-02-13|Before: Adams J, Bell J, Simpson J

CITATION : NSW Crime Commission v Field [2008] NSWSC 103

HEARING DATE(S) : 4.12.06, 6.12.07, 7.12.06, 4.1.07, 4.5.07, 22.6.07, 23.7.07, 8.10.07, 12.11.07, 13.2.08

DECISION : A fixed term of four years and six months commencing 16 December 2005 and ending on 15 June 2010 is imposed upon which date the offender will be eligible to be considered for parole in respect of the sentence of thirteen years he is serving for the drug offence which expires on 4 January 2014.

CATCHWORDS : Contempt of court - sentence - refusal to be examined in confiscation proceedings - relevant principles.

LEGISLATION CITED : Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 Criminal Assets Recovery Act 1990 s 12(1)

Principal Registrar of Supreme Court of NSW v Jando (2001) 53 NSWLR 527 CASES CITED : Principal Registrar of Supreme Court of NSW v Tran [2006] NSWSC 1183 R v Bilal Razzak [2006] NSWSC 1366 Registrar of the Court of Appeal v Gilby (unreported NSWCA, 20 August 1991)

PARTIES : NSW Crime Commission Malcolm Gordon FIELD

COUNSEL : Mr I D Temby QC (Plaintiff) Defendant in person

SOLICITORS : NSW Crime Commission (Plaintiff) Defendant unrepresented

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION

1 HIS HONOUR: On 29 May 2003 the offender was sentenced to a term of twelve months' imprisonment for contempt of this Court. That sentence commenced on 5 June 2007 and will expire on 4 June 2008. The contempt comprised a refusal to comply with an order of this Court on 4 July 2001 that he be examined on oath before a Registrar under s12(1) of the Criminal Assets Recovery Act 1990. The facts concerning the contempt are sufficiently set out in the judgment of Bell J delivered by her Honour when the offender was sentenced. I do not need to set out those facts in detail in this judgment but a brief reference to them is necessary. 2 The offender had been arrested on 5 January 2001 upon charges arising out of the importation into Australia of approximately 34 kilograms of ecstasy. On 10 January 2001 the Commission obtained a restraining order in respect of his property. On 27 March 2001 the proceedings were settled and consent terms filed. Other confiscation proceedings commenced on 4 July 2001 concerning the property of the offender and a number of other persons. On 4 July 2001 Simpson J made an order in the requiring the offender to attend before a Registrar of this Court on 13 August 2001 for an examination on oath as to his property and that of the other persons in respect of whom restraining orders had been made. When the offender appeared for his examination on that day he indicated that he would refuse to answer any questions upon the ground that the hearing of the criminal charges against him was pending, although he had been advised by his legal representatives that this was not a ground for refusing to answer questions and could result in his being charged with contempt. 3 The hearing of the contempt charge came before Bell J on 5 April 2002. It was submitted by counsel on the offender's behalf that he had a reasonable excuse for refusing to be examined upon the basis that anything he might say under compulsion could be used to his prejudice at his still pending trial. The offender did not give evidence before Bell J and accordingly there was no evidentiary basis for inferring that he had in fact entertained the fear that any evidence he gave might be used against him in his trial. At all events, her Honour concluded that such a fear did not afford a defence to the charge. After referring to a number of decisions of this Court concerning the punishment for contempt of court her Honour set out the relevant factors, as enunciated in Registrar of the Court of Appeal v Gilby (unreported NSWCA, 20 August 1991) at 26-29: "1. The objective seriousness of the contempt; 2. whether the contemnor was aware of the consequences of what he proposed to do; 3. whether the contempt was motivated by fear of harm should evidence be given; and … 5. whether the contemnor had received a benefit by indicating an intention to give evidence." 4 Her Honour summarised the objective seriousness of the offender's contempt as follows - "The contempt in this case is a serious offence in that it involved a conscious defiance of the authority of the Court. I am satisfied that the respondent was aware of the consequences of his refusal. It is apparent that he had received advice and that he chose to take the course that he did. The parliament has enacted a scheme for the confiscation of the proceeds of criminal activity. An important part of that scheme is the provision for the compulsory examination of persons pursuant to s12 [of the Act]." 5 Bell J was satisfied that imprisonment was the only appropriate sentence. As her Honour observed, the principal matter urged in mitigation of sentence concerned the offender's medical condition. It appeared that he had a history of chronic airflow limitation. This was related to severe adult-onset asthma and required his admission to hospital on a number of occasions. It seems that her Honour accepted the view of Dr Peters of the Prince of Wales Hospital that, based upon the recognised characteristics of patients likely to die from the condition, the offender's prognosis was "a guarded one". Her Honour also referred to the following medical opinion - "Mr Field's condition impacts on his incarceration in that he is clearly not able to tolerate the amount of physical exertion that a normal, healthy person his own age could tolerate. Therefore, he would find it harder to do some of the things that his healthy peers would be able to do. When he suffers an acute exacerbation he does require medical intervention, which is available either within the correctional system, or through referral to an appropriate local hospital." 6 In another report by a specialist in respiratory medicine dated 10 February 2003, the following was cited by her Honour - "Mr Field has mild to moderate chronic airflow limitation on the basis of severe asthma. His asthma is brittle in the sense that he can have rapid fluctuations in airway function (documented with pulmonary function tests) and one episode of life-threatening asthma requiring intubation and artificial ventilation. … Based on my understanding of the difficulties in providing medical care to prisoners, I would have to agree that Mr Field's care could be compromised by being in gaol, compared with living under ordinary circumstances in a city or town with good medical facilities. His situation is probably not much different than a person with severe asthma living in a remote rural region. Mr Field does have a severe, brittle asthma and has already had one life-threatening attack. Had his presentation to Prince of Wales Hospital in June 2002 been delayed by even fifteen or thirty minutes, the outcome may well have been fatal." 7 Bell J found (if I may say so respectfully, correctly) that the evidence fell short of establishing on the balance of probabilities that the fact of imprisonment posed a serious risk of having a gravely adverse effect on the offender's health. However, her Honour considered that the offender's medical condition was a severe one and imprisonment would impose a greater burden on him than otherwise would be the case. Her Honour thought it right to give regard to this consideration in determining the sentence to be imposed. 8 On 11 April 2003 the offender had been sentenced in the District Court to the following terms: first, to imprisonment for one year from 5 January 2001 to 4 January 2002; and, secondly, a further term of imprisonment for thirteen years from 5 January 2001 to 4 January 2014, with a non-parole period of seven years from 5 January 2001 to 4 January 2008. Having regard to the principle of totality, Bell J imposed a sentence, as will be seen, that was substantially concurrent with the sentence passed in the District Court for the drug related offence. 9 On 10 November 2004 the Commission sought orders that it be permitted to approach the Registrar to set a further date for the examination of the offender under s12(1) of the Act in accordance with the order initially made by Simpson J on 4 July 2001. The restraining order in respect of which that examination was ordered was still in force. The application was unsuccessfully opposed by the offender and Bell J gave the order sought. 10 On 17 June 2005 the offender was ordered to attend before a registrar of this Court on 29 July 2005 to be examined on oath. He attended on that date but, when asked to take the oath or affirmation, the offender said, "I refuse to take anything". Counsel for the offender indicated to the registrar that the offender intended to take the same course at any further date to which the examination might be adjourned and informed the registrar that he was "fully aware of the consequences of that attitude". 11 On 16 December 2005 the offender was dealt with by Hulme J for this contempt. After briefly summarising the objective circumstances, Hulme J referred to the serious physical health problems from which the offender suffered and accepted that they argued "for a lesser penalty than might otherwise be appropriate". His Honour also referred to evidence of "some brain damage injury and psychological disturbance or disability". After summarising the report of Dr David Brown and a clinical psychologist, Mr Taylor, which are sufficiently set out in his Honour's judgment and need not be repeated here, Hulme J rejected the submission that the offender's refusal to subject himself to examination derived from his paranoid beliefs about persecution by the Crime Commission coupled with an impairment in abstract reasoning and concept formulation so that his ability to weigh up the relevant factors and form rational judgments about them was probably impaired. The reasons given by his Honour for rejecting the psychologist's conclusions were that the information upon which reliance was placed all came from the offender who did not give evidence and it was therefore impossible to assess the reliability of much of what he said; secondly, the apparent impairment of judgment was in contrast to a history of conducting significant commercial or quasi-commercial dealings. His Honour observed that he was not in a position to make any findings about the matter but simply wished to point out that any conclusion that the offender's judgment was significantly impaired could not be reliably made upon the material that the psychologist had to hand and the other material available to the Court. His Honour therefore approached the sentencing of the offender upon the basis of his obdurate refusal to be examined, a refusal in the face of a prior conviction for contempt for similar conduct for which he had already been sentenced. His Honour took into account the offender's plea of guilty and also his serious physical health problems but, as I have said, declined to give significance to any possible psychological mitigating circumstances. 12 So far as the offender's physical problems were concerned, his Honour made what must be (with respect) the just observation that, whilst he was entitled to have those problems taken into account on the side of leniency, he was able to avoid incarceration for the offence of contempt by obeying the order of the Court. To that extent, his imprisonment continued because of his own obduracy. Accordingly, he was in a significantly different position to that of an offender who was not able to purge or substantially purge the criminality involved in his offence. 13 Hulme J concluded that a prison sentence was required and noted that the sentence imposed by Bell J did not appear to have affected the offender's decision-making. His Honour therefore concluded that the sentence to be imposed must be substantially harsher than that already received. In the result, Hulme J declared the offender guilty of contempt of court by disobeying the order of Simpson J of 4 July 2001 in refusing to be examined on oath before a registrar of the Court on 21 July 2005 but His Honour did not impose a determinant sentence. Having regard to the fact that this was a second offence, its nature and the context in which it was committed his Honour concluded that the offender should be committed to imprisonment until further order of the Court. His Honour noted that, of course, the offender could at any stage take steps calculated to bring his sentence to an early conclusion. Hulme J considered whether he should commence the sentence at the conclusion of the non-parole periods to which he was then subject, observing that the order he would make would "not have any effective operation until the expiration of that time". His Honour concluded that given the nature of the sentence - I assume, designed if possible to impress upon the offender the nature of his contempt and induce him to purge it - he decided that it was appropriate to commence the sentence as at the date of judgment, namely 16 December 2005. 14 On 10 July 2007 the Commission filed a notice of motion seeking an order that the offender be released on a specified date from the imprisonment imposed by Hulme J. This motion, it was thought, was desirable since it was envisaged that the restraining order would be overtaken in due course by an assets recovery order, with the consequence that no further opportunity would be available to the offender to purge his contempt and making it appropriate to fix a sentence to punish him for that contempt. It seems to me that this course was appropriate. Accordingly, it is now necessary that I should sentence the offender for his contempt. 15 The approach taken by Hulme J was, essentially, for the purpose of the legal coercion by punishment of the offender not only for the act of contempt that occurred before the Registrar but to persuade him, if possible, to comply with the order of the Court. The offender's defiance, however, has continued and, despite Hulme J's suggestion that he could purge his contempt, he has not attempted to do so. The sentence imposed by Hulme J, therefore, must be seen as an interim order designed to vindicate the Court's authority and to bring about the offender's obedience to it. The very form of Hulme J's order demonstrates its interim character and its coercive purpose. That purpose would have been frustrated, of course, unless the offender clearly understood - as I am sure that he did - that he would, if he remained disobedient, serve additional imprisonment to that to which he was already subject by virtue of his sentences for the drug offence and Bell J's order. 16 So far as my task is concerned, the sentencing of the offender must proceed by way of applying the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999: see, for example, Principal Registrar of Supreme Court of NSW v Jando (2001) 53 NSWLR 527 at 537 - 538; Principal Registrar of Supreme Court of NSW v Tran [2006] NSWSC 1183; R v Bilal Razzak [2006] NSWSC 1366. In the present context, this means, in particular, that I should sentence the offender in accordance with the provisions of s 44 as to the setting of a term of sentence and a non-parole period. 17 Although the offender's contempt comprised a refusal to being examined in accordance with the order of this Court, he was in a somewhat different position to the witness in a trial, especially a criminal trial, who refuses to be sworn or affirmed to answer questions. In some respects it might be thought that the offender's contempt is not as serious as those that occur in the administration of criminal justice. However, not much is to be gained, I think, from comparisons of this kind. The examination of someone in the offender's position, either in respect of his own assets or those of another person, is a vital step in the enforcement of the process of confiscating property associated with criminal activity. The scheme of the Criminal Assets Recovery Act would be significantly frustrated if persons ordered to be examined under the Act refused to obey such orders. Not only does such a refusal frustrate an important part of the legislative scheme to which I have referred but it is also a deliberate defiance of the authority of this Court. It is important in this context that others who might be minded to disobey orders for examination, as this offender has, should be aware that condign punishment will follow any such disobedience.

General deterrence 18 I have given an opportunity to the offender to make submissions to me on sentence. The offender, in substance, made three points: the first is that the restraining order should not have been granted in the first place since it was procured by the Commission fraudulently and oppressively; the second point is that he was justified in refusing to assist by way of subjecting himself to an examination because, he alleged, the Crime Commission acted unlawfully; the third point is that it was contrary to his fundamental civil right not to give evidence that might incriminate him. The following is an extract from the offender's oral submission to me (repeated throughout the proceedings in different ways) - "Yes, the NSW legislation, I understand it, it's there for the Crime Commission and only for the Crime Commission, that's what it's basically there for. If I handed over money to them I wouldn't have been at the examination, it's as simple as that. Mr George Eddy said, 'Give me thirty million, you'll be out of gaol tomorrow'. It's these people that are extortionists. They get me before the examination and here they are trying to extort money out of me. I wouldn't give them thirty cents, not that I have thirty millions. These people are outlandish how they operate. They get people immunity. Take some money, give them immunity so they can give evidence against other people. You know what informers are about. They are pushing their own agendas… HIS HONOUR: It is in your interests that you hear what I'm saying so you can reply to it. People do not usually want to go to gaol. It is a very rare person that goes to gaol out of an excessive righteous indignation. People go to gaol or are willing to go gaol because they think there is an advantage in it. What is the advantage for you in remaining silent? The only advantages that I can think of is you don't need to disclose criminal conduct which you otherwise might need to disclose or that there is other property which you believe the authorities do not know about, the existence of which you wish to conceal. Those two reasons provide very good motives for not answering or wishing to be examined and explain why you are otherwise prepared to spend a year or two years or three years or four years more in prison so you don't have to answer these questions. That is the line of reasoning. Perhaps you might tell me what is wrong with it. FIRST DEFENDANT: I have to spend two, three, four, I'll spend it. I'm not going to co-operate with the Crime Commission.

HIS HONOUR: You are being asked to co-operate with the court. FIRST DEFENDANT: These people in my opinion are violators of the law. They manipulate the law to suit their own agendas and I am not going to stand by and be a party to their action. I'm standing firm and I'm happy to one day get these people in the Police Integrity Commission and get them out of their jobs because these people are abusers." 19 The offender was given the opportunity to go into the witness box to substantiate these claims but did not take it. I reject them. I do not believe that the offender is motivated at all by any sense of righteous indignation, although I have no doubt that he harbours substantial resentment about the way that he has been treated by the Crime Commission, in particular because the Crime Commission has attempted, by utilizing the legislation, to identify and obtain his property. 20 Tendered on the sentence proceedings by Mr Temby QC for the Commission were a number of documents. The first was the affidavit of Paul Hardin sworn 16 September 2005 and read in the proceedings before Hulme J. This affidavit annexes, in substance, a series of medical reports about the offender's health. It was tendered out of fairness for the offender who is unrepresented before me and who might not himself have thought of tendering it. I might mention that the offender did not object to this course. I have read all the reports annexed by Mr Hardin. They are sufficiently extracted in the judgments of Bell J and Hulme J and do not need to be further set out. Also tendered was a report from Dr Parkinson to Justice Health of 1 November 2004. Mr Temby summarised the matter as follows - "It is apparent from the records that over the ensuing period of now approaching seven years his health has deteriorated and by the latter part of 2006, and as I understand it, at all times since, he has been taking multiple drugs, firstly for his asthma condition, next for hypertension, the elevated blood pressure which has continued to be a problem, third for vasculitis; fourthly for stomach problems which may be and probably are adjectival upon other drugs he is taking; fifth for eye problems, specifically glaucoma which will necessitate an operation which, at his request, has been put off until next year after the current proceedings have been completed and perhaps also for deafness, although I am not clear as to that. He is taking a range of medication for a range of conditions.

The medical records also show that he has been admitted to outside hospitals (hospitals outside the prison system) on several occasions over that seven plus year period - at least four times to Prince of Wales Hospital, at least once to Blacktown Hospital and at least once to Auburn Hospital. Reasons for admission were or included a seizure. On another occasion he was admitted following an asthma attack and on another occasion for treatment for vasculitis. I realise I have mentioned three causes there and there were more admissions but I can't be more precise than that but he has been admitted on a number of occasions to outside hospitals. He has also been seen many times in prison clinics, chiefly for breathing difficulties with raised blood pressure being noted on occasions and he has been in prison hospitals more than once.

The medical records contain no suggestion of malingering on Mr Field's part or exaggeration of symptoms, although there are records of him being difficult and demanding on occasions and I don't say that critically, it is perhaps not surprising but that just completes the picture. On numerous occasions it has been recommended that he be transported in a car or van where he can be continuously observed and that he not travel with other prisoners as he has a severe sensitivity to cigarette smoke.

I tender from the medical records an assessment which was conducted on 1 November 2004 by a named clinician, a person named Parkinson, presumably a doctor, and we have only got the three pages I am providing to you." [That report states that "When he comes to the clinic he doesn't know why he is there...and has agitated behaviour…"] 21 Dr Parkinson's note of 1 November 2004 refers to a diagnosis of Churg-Strauss syndrome and asthma. Churg-Strauss syndrome is a systemic vasculitis of which asthma is a cardinal feature. One of the possible developments can be a devastating involvement of the nerves (called mono-neuritis multiplex) which can have very serious symptoms. The offender does not report any such symptoms and there is no medical evidence which enables me to assess which stage of the syndrome the offender is presently suffering or his prognosis. Dr Parkinson queried whether the syndrome might be a cause of "cognition issues, forgetfulness and agitated behaviour". He reported, however, I note to Dr Parkinson that he only had a slight memory deficit and some problems with concentration. Dr Parkinson reported "subtle paranoid symptoms" were evident involving "persecutory delusions regarding government and authoritarian figures". As I understand it, a mental state examination completed by a psychiatrist did not suggest any mental illness. Dr Parkinson queried whether the offender was suffering from an early dementia process. I have already referred to the report of Dr Taylor on which Hulme J was not disposed to rely since the history was not verified by evidence from the offender. 22 I thought that, in his presentation before me by way of oral submission and in his written submissions, the offender did demonstrate some confusion and incoherence, though the general thrust of what he wished to say was clear enough and what he said may have simply reflected a lack of education, confusion about the law and difficulties which any person might have in dealing with a not uncomplicated factual and legal situation. 23 A history, which I am minded to accept, that comes from Dr McKenzie's report of 10 February 2003 states that the offender was born at Warren in New South Wales on 20 May 1941, his family moving to Sydney when he was three months old. His father worked as an electrician at the Children's Hospital in Camperdown. The offender went to school at Balmain until the age of fourteen when he went to sea in the merchant navy as a deckhand and remained a seaman throughout his working life. 24 In a written submission on his sentence dated 20 November 2007, the offender said that he was in extremely poor health and "if the present trend continues at the same declining rate, I anticipate that I would be doing very well to survive another two years. I am on extreme medication that is keeping me going". In the absence of any medical evidence of this prognosis I do not think that I can accept it. However, I think I should take into account the risks that naturally attach to sufferers from serious asthma and I note (as I have previously mentioned) that on one occasion at least he was fortunate that prompt action to take him to hospital occurred. He claims that he has "bleeding on the brain", describing this as Churg-Strauss syndrome and that this occurred in 2003 when he was placed on a life-support machine in hospital. Again, there is no medical evidence to support this claim although I am prepared to accept that he does have Churg-Strauss syndrome and that vasculitis is a frequent consequence of this condition. The offender also said that he was somewhat embarrassed by his behaviour and demeanour as presented in the courtroom which makes him appear at times that he is very angry with an obsessive neurotic attitude. The offender attributed this demeanour to his medication. There were indeed brief occasions when the offender acted in this way but they were relatively minor. 25 The offender concluded his written submission in the following way - "Simply, I must appear in court as an angry aging man, without a great deal of direction or bearings, often not hearing the exact dialogue of the remarks of yourself or Mr Temby. This condition often confounds and confuses my ability to follow through of my thoughts, or to make my point clearly as I have forgotten the overall point of the argument, or to simply make the running of the legal position, arguing through on their merits. Your Honour, I take this opportunity to lodge my apology … for my behaviour and my contrasting demeanour, but again stand by my principles of contesting the NSWCC position as to the notice of motion and the point of being in contempt of court from abstaining from taking the oath on two occasions, with what I believe is of good cause. Also, with absolute commitment I would like to mention that at no time do I wish to be seen to be hiding behind my medical condition and ask no favours, other than to take into consideration my situation of circumstances that are outside my control." 26 If I may say so, these submissions do not exhibit any confusion of mind or misunderstanding about the position that the offender is in nor, for that matter, the conduct for which he is to be punished. 27 I think it appropriate that I do make some allowance for the offender's mental condition which has made it somewhat more difficult for him than would otherwise be the case to rationally and calmly consider his position. At the same time I am quite convinced that his refusal to obey the orders for examination is motivated, in essence, by a desire to keep from the authorities any information that might assist them to locate assets of which, he believes, they are presently unaware. To some extent also I accept that this may place him at a disadvantage in dealing with other prisoners and the prison environment. 28 I also take into account the offender's physical medical condition. I am satisfied that it does make it much more difficult for him to cope with the prison environment than an ordinary prisoner. This is exacerbated by his extreme sensitivity to cigarette smoke which he claims (and I have little difficulty in accepting) is virtually everywhere in the prison. 29 The offender has also submitted, and I am minded to accept, that his indeterminate sentence has prevented or delayed the extending to him of some prison programs such as tertiary study and prevented him from obtaining work release. I will give this consideration some, but not much, weight, since I think that his suitability for tertiary studies must be very doubtful and the sentence which I must impose would preclude consideration to his being given work release for some time. 30 An appropriate punishment for the offender's contempt, taking into account all the objective and subjective features to which I have referred, is of the order of three years. The purpose of this punishment would be frustrated if the term were concurrent with the sentences which he is presently serving. As will have been noted, the term of imprisonment relating to his involvement with the importation of drugs expired on 4 January 2008 though the sentence does not expire until 4 January 2014. The twelve-month sentence imposed by Bell J commenced on 5 June 2007 and expires on 4 June 2008. 31 I bear in mind that it is necessary to have regard to the principle of totality when accumulating sentences. Were it not for Hulme J's sentence I would have sentenced the offender to a fixed term of imprisonment for three years. If this term is added to the sentence imposed by Bell J, the offender would be entitled to be considered for parole on 4 June 2011. If released on that date, he would be on parole for a further two years and five months to complete the sentence imposed for the drug offence. This would mean that he would have spent ten years and five months in continuous custody. Having regard to the principle of totality, I consider that this sentence of effective imprisonment should be reduced somewhat. Accordingly, I propose to make an order that will permit the offender to be considered for release on parole on 15 June 2010. It seems to me that it would not be appropriate to sentence the offender to a fixed term of three years to commence on the date upon which he was sentenced by Hulme J because this sentence would be almost completely concurrent with those imposed for the drug offence and by Bell J. The purpose of punishing for contempt would, as I have mentioned, be almost completely frustrated. The effect of my order will be to reduce the potential parole period envisaged by the terms of the drug sentence, but this is inescapable. In the circumstances, I do not think that any further reduction in the time to be served by the offender for his contempt can be justified. 32 Accordingly, the sentence I impose is a fixed term of four years and six months commencing 16 December 2005 and ending on 15 June 2010 upon which date the offender will be eligible to be considered for parole in respect of the sentence of thirteen years he is serving for the drug offence which expires on 4 January 2014. **********

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At a glance

Court

Decision date

Before

Catchwords

Source

Catchwords

Judgment (17 paragraphs)

Parties

Cases Cited (3)