In Carroll v The Queen [2011] VSCA 150 the appellant had been sentenced for numerous counts of burglary, stalking and harassment of different female victims. He appealed, asserting his sentence should have been mitigated, taking into account the principles in R v Verdins [2007] VSCA 102.Maxwell P [at 12]:Ground 2 contended that her Honour had …
Continue reading Carroll v The Queen [2011] VSCA 150: the application of Verdins to sexual offending
Further Edit: The paedophilia and paraphilia 'exception' discussed in DPP v OJA [2007] VSCA 129, where the High Court's majority view in Ryan v R (2001) 206 CLR 267 was said to take precedence over Verdins principles, has recently been approved by the Victorian Court of Appeal in WCB v The Queen [2010] VSCA 230.Edit: …
Continue reading Verdins revisited: linking cause and effect
Last Tuesday the Magistrates' Court Amendment (Mental Health List) Bill 2009 was introduced into the Victorian Parliament. The Bill proposes to amend the Magistrates' Court Act 1989 and set up a Mental Health List within the Magistrates' Court of Victoria as a three-year pilot project. Approximately three hundred candidates will undergo rehabilitation and treatment under …
A couple of months ago I posted about the tragic circumstances in R v Fitchett [2009] VSCA 150. The case raised some issues to do with the application of the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Fitness to be Tried) Act 1997. Most importantly, the case affirmed that a jury should be told what the potential effects …
Continue reading R v Fitchett: not guilty by reason of mental impairment
Most people who follow local news will have heard of the terrible assault on a Fitzroy man by his housemate in August of last year.The victim suffered burns to 12 per cent of his body when boiling oil was poured over him whilst he slept. His assailant pled guilty to a change of intentionally causing …