[2019] WASC 330
General information, not legal advice.
Supreme Court of WA
2019-09-20
Hill J
Original judgment source is linked above.
(a) possession of prohibited drugs, namely cannabis, with an intent to sell or supply contrary to s 6(1)(a) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 (WA); and
(b) possession of $4,410.00 in cash that was reasonably suspected to be unlawfully obtained contrary to s 417(1) of the Criminal Code (WA).
Police also located [the appellant's] mobile phone, which was found to contain numerous text messages relating to his active involvement in selling and supplying cannabis.
HIS HONOUR: Well, what you've admitted by pleading guilty is that you were selling cannabis and you more or less admitted also - may not be quite as simple as this but you're admitting that the cash they found were proceeds of that activity.
ACCUSED: Yes, your Honour.
One of the things that - because you've got no record, Mr [E], one of the things I need to consider is whether I make what's called a spent conviction order.
If I make that order it's very much in your favour because you don't have to declare these convictions. Now, what you've pleaded guilty to are some pretty serious charges and it would be fairly unusual for the court to make spent conviction orders for these sorts of charges but if you do well on the Pre-sentence Opportunity Program, that might change things. Well, to put it a different way, you probably have very little chance of having that sort of order made for you at the moment. You give yourself perhaps some chance if you do this program properly.
The facts are accepted. He's an 18 year old man. He is currently studying full-time at university. I hand up a copy of his university's transcript, albeit it is quite short because he has only just commenced uni, and also a character reference.
There's no indication to me in the statement of material facts if they revealed what level. They just say numerous. That's really the only thing I can point to.
HIS HONOUR: Yes. Yes. So what are you - what instructions do you have about the facts? I mean, I'm trying to work out the level of criminality here. It's a lot of cash - - -
STOPS, MR: It is a lot of cash.
HIS HONOUR: - - - for cannabis.
STOPS, MR: I do accept that. Unfortunately, your Honour, my instructions are quite limited as to why there was that amount of cash and the level of his involvement with that operation.
HIS HONOUR: Do you accept that by his plea of guilty to the unlawful possession charge that he accepts that that is money which was obtained as a consequence of the sale of cannabis?
STOPS, MR: I accept that.
HIS HONOUR: I don't think there's any other conclusion, is there?
STOPS, MR: No, your Honour. I don't think any other conclusion could be drawn.
HIS HONOUR: Which is at a fairly high level. Anyway, yes.
[The appellant] reported he did not feel a need to continue with AOD [alcohol and other drug] counselling at this time citing he has met his goal of abstinence from cannabis use. [The appellant] and the writer of this report made a plan for a check-in post sentencing via a phone call on 17 April 2019. The writer of this report believes that [the appellant's] meaningful participation in counselling and the POP program, and reported positive changes facilitated through self‑reflection including reported cannabis cessation indicates that ongoing AOD counselling is not necessary at this time.
In terms of what brought him about to doing this, your Honour, his family were living in Europe. He has had a falling out with his family and has returned to Australia on his own when he was 17. I think what has really been the motivator to get involved in this is not having any money and not having anyone to support him. So he has really fell into the wrong crowd. One of the references before you, your Honour, does I think canvas that briefly, that he was with the wrong group of people and he has now [sic] no longer with that group.
He's currently now - he's now living with his girlfriend and her family. They're present in the back of court. I would say that circumstances that he found himself in when he was found with the cannabis have changed now. The fact that he's now in a supportive environment, I would say, acts as protective factor which I would go into as unlikely to commit a similar offence again in support of the spent conviction order. Your Honour, he has no records so he does come before you as someone of prior good character.
Because of his age, coupled with his voluntary work as a karate instructor, couple with the fact that he has just started a business degree, I would say he has got extremely strong prospects of rehabilitation - extremely strong. There's early pleas of guilty. He has also successfully completed the Pre-sentence Opportunity Program. That also, I can say, would support the submission that he's unlikely to commit similar offences. He's also got treatment for his drug use, your Honour.
Well, that probably assumes that he is truly on top of his very heavy addiction, because if he's not he might resort to this sort of activity again. Anyway, I understand the submission. ... I don't think there's much more you can say.
Now, your lawyer has made an application for a spent conviction on your behalf. I accept that you're a person of good character. If I put to one side these offences, you are a person of good character. You're young, you've never been in trouble before. I do have some misgivings however about concluding that you're unlikely to commit this type of offence again. I'm not convinced that you're entirely on top of your habit - your addiction to cannabis.
I think there's every chance - or there's a realistic possibility that you could go back to using cannabis on a regular basis and it may well be that in your financial position, the only way that you can service that habit is to again start selling cannabis. I'm not saying that will definitely happen. It is a real possibility though. So I have some misgivings about whether you even qualify for a spent conviction order.
Even assuming that you do however, what I'm dealing with here is some very serious offending. It's a drug supply charge where you're found with almost four and a half thousand dollars in cash. So this is a serious example of a drug supply charge. In my view, if I was to make spent conviction orders, I would be sending a message that does mark - does not properly mark the seriousness of this offending. I'm not - I don't have any convincing evidence before me that if I fail to make a spent conviction order that that will have a very obvious impact on you in terms of your - mainly in terms of your employment.
I acknowledge that you're very young and you haven't really started to develop a career yet. It may well be that having to declare convictions of this kind does have an adverse impact on your employment but there are other considerations which are more important here, which lead me to conclude that I should not make spent conviction orders. So I'm not prepared to make those orders. ...
While the common law principles touching upon the distinction between new and fresh evidence are not necessarily determinative of the manner of the exercise of the statutory discretion, the considerations giving rise to those principles will ordinarily be weighty, so much that it will be a rare case in which an exercise of the statutory discretion produces a different outcome to that produced by application of the common law principles.
Legal Principles: Power to make a spent conviction order
(1) Under section 39(2), a court sentencing an offender is not to make a spent conviction order unless -
(a) it considers that the offender is unlikely to commit such an offence again; and
(b) having regard to -
(i) the fact that the offence is trivial; or
(ii) the previous good character of the offender,
it considers the offender should be relieved immediately of the adverse effect that the conviction might have on the offender.
(2) A spent conviction order in respect of a conviction is an order that the conviction is a spent conviction for the purposes of the Spent Convictions Act 1988.
(3) The Spent Convictions Act 1988, other than Part 2, applies to and in respect of a conviction in respect of which a spent conviction order has been made.
(4) A spent conviction order is to be taken as part of the sentence imposed.
In my opinion it is appropriate to conclude that having regard to its effect on the ordinary operations of the Spent Convictions Act, the discretionary power to make a spent conviction order conferred by s 45 of the Sentencing Act should be regarded as being of an exceptional character. If the necessary pre-conditions are established, the court should go on to have regard to the seriousness of the offence before it in the circumstances of its commission and in the circumstances personal to the offender. It should take as the ordinary rule the fact that a conviction will be a matter of record with all the consequences that may entail into the future. It should therefore look to see whether there is some particular circumstance to show that it would be desirable, not only from the point of view of the offender but also, having regard to his or her rehabilitation, from the point of view of the community, why the adverse effect of the conviction should be immediately set aside.
That may often be found in the fact that the conviction, if not declared to be spent, might be a particular impediment to the offender following a particular career, practising a particular profession or undertaking particular employment. It may be that it will be the case that that would be productive of exceptional hardship to the offender and his family, or it may simply be that it can be seen that to relieve the offender of the adverse effects of the conviction will positively aid that person's rehabilitation in a way which may be seen to best accord with the interests of the community. The court may be aided to reach that conclusion if it thinks that there is no pressing public interest in being able to continue to have access to the fact of conviction as part of the process of securing the protection of the community.
In appropriate circumstances comparatively serious conduct may be offset by good character and the unlikelihood of committing a further offence. It is not the case that a spent conviction order cannot be given for an offence of a serious nature. The seriousness of the offence is a relevant factor in the exercise of any discretion and may in appropriate circumstances be a very weighty factor. However, it is not a disqualifying factor. (citations omitted)
Reasons the magistrate declined to make a spent conviction order
(b) the appellant was young and had never been in trouble before;
(c) there was no convincing evidence before him that the appellant would suffer an obvious impact in terms of his employment by the imposition of a conviction; but
(d) he was not convinced the appellant was on top of his addiction to cannabis and there was a realistic possibility the appellant could revert to using cannabis on a regular basis and as a consequence selling cannabis;
(e) the drug supply charge was very serious given that the appellant was found with almost $4,500 cash.
[T]wo aspects to the public interest arise in this matter that should be considered when determining whether to make a spent conviction order. The first is the effect of an order on general deterrence include the protection of the community. In Brewer v Bayens Burchett AUJ observed:
'One of the aspects of the public interest, as has been pointed out in some of the authorities, is the effect of an order on general deterrence. If the fact of a conviction, followed by sentence, is exposed to public scrutiny, it may have a strong deterrent influence. In very special cases, s 45 allows this public benefit of the conviction to be diminished for some sufficient reason, by authorising the suppression of its existence from responses to enquiries, and placing a legal impediment in the way of some enquiries. The Court should be careful not to expand this exceptional provision beyond Parliament's intention, both because deterrence requires publicity and because, too, "the preservation of confidence in the judicial system" requires publicity. As their Honours also said:
"To deny the public knowledge of any part of the proceedings of a court is a matter of gravity, especially where the court is exercising criminal jurisdiction."'
Clearly the public interest in the effect of an order on general deterrence was at the forefront of the magistrate's mind when sentencing the appellant.
The second aspect of the public interest relates to the interest of the community in aiding a person's rehabilitation in an appropriate case.
In R v Tognini Murray J observed that if a conviction is not declared to be spent it might result in a particular impediment to a person's career, ability to practice a particular profession or undertake particular employment. In such a case, it may be seen that to relieve the offender of the adverse effects of the conviction will positively aid that person's rehabilitation in a way which may be seen to best accord with the interests of the community.
In R v Riggall, it was found that the mere fact of a conviction of indecency offences would likely have a detrimental and long‑lasting impact on a young person at the beginning of their working life was a circumstance that made it appropriate to grant a spent conviction order.
In my opinion the public interest can arise, in an appropriate case, where a spent conviction order can be said to aid the rehabilitation of a young person who is in a circumstance where the mere fact of a conviction will likely have a detrimental and long‑lasting impact upon the young person. (citations omitted)
(a) whether these matters should have had the effect of raising the public interest in aiding the continued rehabilitation of the appellant by relieving him of the adverse effects of the convictions; and
(b) whether that aspect of the public interest outweighed the public interest in the deterrent effect of the convictions.
I certify that the preceding paragraph(s) comprise the reasons for decision of the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
[3] Samuels v Western Australia [2005] WASCA 193; (2005) 30 WAR 473.
[21] Affidavit of TWFE filed 26 July 2019 par 9.
[22] Affidavit of TWFE filed 26 July 2019 par 21 - 24.
[23] KMT v The State of Western Australia [No 2] [2018] WASCA 49 [46].
[24] Rodi v The State of Western Australia [2017] WASCA 81; (2017) 51 WAR 96 [96] ‑ [101]. See also Mickelberg v The Queen [1989] HCA 35; (1989) 167 CLR 259, 273, 301 ‑ 302; Ratten v The Queen [1974] HCA 35; (1974) 131 CLR 510, 517.
[25] Rodi v The State of Western Australia [100].
[26] M v Seidner [2013] WASC 395; (2013) 236 A Crim R 17 [28] citing Caseley v Zampogna [2006] WASC 259 [19]; A v Staples [2007] WASC 36 [17].
[27] Wright v McMurchy [2012] WASCA 257 [59].
[28] R v Tognini [2000] WASCA 31; (2000) 22 WAR 291.
[30] Naik v Morgan [2013] WASC 336 [13].
[31] Hussaini v Szolnoski [2013] WASC 64; (2013) 227 A Crim R 586 [47].
[32] Lowndes v The Queen [1999] HCA 29; (1999) 195 CLR 665, 671 ‑ 672.
[34] TJH v Osborne [2018] WASC 87 [52] - [57].
[36] Greenfield v The State of Western Australia [2019] WASCA 29 [27], [32].
[37] M v Seidner [66]; B v Murphy [2016] WASC 78.
(2017) 51 WAR 96
(1999) 195 CLR 665
(2005) 30 WAR 473
(1989) 167 CLR 259
(1974) 131 CLR 510
(2000) 22 WAR 291