[2024] NTSC 46
General information, not legal advice.
Supreme Court of the NT
2024-06-03
Grant CJ, Agency J
Original judgment source is linked above.
CRIMINAL LAW - EVIDENCE - JUDICIAL DISCRETION TO ADMIT OR EXCLUDE EVIDENCE - TENDENCY EVIDENCE
Evidence of tendency to possess and supply cannabis for commercial gain - Whether evidence could rationally affect to a significant degree the assessment of the probability of a fact in issue - Evidence has significant probative value - Whether probative value outweighs prejudicial effect on accused - Risk that the jury may misuse the evidence accommodated by suitable directions - Evidence admissible for tendency purposes - Agreed facts in relation to previous offending admissible to establish the tendency alleged.
DAO v R (2011) 81 NSWLR 568, DSJ v The Queen; NS v The Queen (2012) 215 A Crim R 349, Dupas v The Queen (2010) 241 CLR 237, Gilbert v The Queen (2000) 201 CLR 414, Hughes v R [2015] NSWCCA 330, Hughes v The Queen (2017) 263 CLR 338, IMM v The Queen (2016) 257 CLR 300, Mol v R [2017] NSWCCA 76, R v AH (1997) 42 NSWLR 702, R v Ford (2009) 201 A Crim R 451, R v Jacobs (No 5) [2013] NSWSC 946, R v Lock (1997) 91 A Crim R 356, R v Lockyer (1996) 89 A Crim R 457, R v Mokbel (2009) 26 VR 618, R v Zhang (2005) 227 ALR 311, Reza v Summerhill Orchards Ltd (2013) 37 VR 204, Sultana (1994) 74 A Crim R 27, The Queen v Bauer (2018) 266 CLR 56, The Queen v Falzon (2018) 92 ALJR 701, The Queen v Martin [2018] NTSC 19, TL v The King [2022] HCA 35, considered.
Crown: Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Accused: North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency
The King v Overs [2024] NTSC 46
(a) when police arrived at 32 Noble Street for the purpose of executing a warrant, the accused locked himself in the bathroom and flushed the toilet, and when police were able to enter the toilet room they saw loose cannabis plant material floating in the toilet bowl;
(b) police found a shopping bag containing 440 grams of cannabis and clip seal bags buried in a hole under the accused's house;
(c) police found a large tin containing 38 small clip seal bags which had already been packed with cannabis;
(d) police found digital scales with trace amounts of cannabis on top of the kitchen pantry cupboard;
(e) police found two packets of clip seal bags on top of the fridge;
(f) police found a mullamatic grinder commonly used to grind cannabis; and
(g) police found $525 in cash in a drawer in the accused's bedroom.
The reception of tendency evidence in a criminal trial may occasion prejudice in a number of ways. The jury may fail to allow that a person who has a tendency to have a particular state of mind, or to act in a particular way, may not have had that state of mind, or may not have acted in that way, on the occasion in issue. Or the jury may underestimate the number of persons who share the tendency to have that state of mind or to act in that way. In either case the tendency evidence may be given disproportionate weight. In addition to the risks arising from tendency reasoning, there is the risk that the assessment of whether the prosecution has discharged its onus may be clouded by the jury's emotional response to the tendency evidence. And prejudice may be occasioned by requiring an accused to answer a raft of uncharged conduct stretching back, perhaps, over many years. [17]
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[12] The Queen v Falzon (2018) 92 ALJR 701 at [1], citing Sultana (1994) 74 A Crim R 27 at 28-29, 36-37; Blackwell (1996) 87 A Crim R 289 at 290, 294; R v Edwards [1998] 2 VR 354 at 367-370; Evans v The Queen [1999] WASCA 252 at [31], [38], [65], [66]; Radi v The Queen [2010] NSWCCA 265 at [39]; Tasmania v Roland (2015) 252 A Crim R 399 at 401-402, R v McGhee (1993) 61 SASR 208 at 210-211. To the extent that the reasons of the majority of this Court in Lewis (1989) 46 A Crim R 365 are to different effect, the reasoning of Rice J in dissent has ultimately prevailed in subsequent authority.
[13] Sultana (1994) 74 A Crim R 27 at 28-29.
The King
Overs [2024] NTSC 46
(2011) 81 NSWLR 568
(2010) 241 CLR 237
(2000) 201 CLR 414
(2017) 263 CLR 338
(2016) 257 CLR 300
(1997) 42 NSWLR 702
(2009) 26 VR 618
(2005) 227 ALR 311
(2013) 37 VR 204
(2018) 266 CLR 56
(2018) 92 ALJR 701
(2014) 87 NSWLR 481
(2014) 45 VR 680
(1993) 61 SASR 208
(1999) 196 CLR 297