But Perth District Court found him guilty of causing grievous bodily harm last year after a trial. NOTE: Restricted access conditions apply to certain Court records. If your assessment is that the sentencing judge will disbelieve your client and use the client's evidence as ammunition to impose a harsh sentence, the client should not be called.If your client is unable to express any contrition for his offence or offences in a genuine way then, generally speaking, it is unwise to call the client.If the sentencing judge is one who you believe will react sympathetically to your client, then I believe that in almost every case you should call your client. However, on occasion the judge will publish written reasons for decision. The reason for this is that the judge may wish to highlight or otherwise mark important passages in the report, but may not wish to mark the original exhibit. The sentencing process is at the very core of the criminal justice system. To access this service ask for telephone interpreting and the language required. Judges sentencing remarks from the Supreme Court and the District Court are available online (current sentencing remarks). If you ask your client to write such a letter, you should make it clear to him that it should be his own thoughts, not those of the MRRC prisoners legal collective!If your client is in protective custody, for reasons discussed above, it is important to have evidence of the conditions of protective custody before the sentencing judge. At the time an offender is sentenced in court a judge states, either orally or in writing, the reasons why a particular sentence is passed on an offender. Last updated: 1-Mar-2019. By Reporter. In some criminal cases a judge is required to make a decision on an application brought by one of the parties under theCriminal Procedure Act 2004 (WA) or theEvidence Act 1906 (WA) before the accused persons trial takes place. You may, however, wish to draw the judge's attention to the fact that in Commonwealth matters, the normal range for the proportion of the non-parole period to the head sentence is 60 to 66 and two-thirds %: see Western Australia District Court Judge Michael John Bowden sentenced Cummins to 12 months in jail, suspended for 18 months, on the provision that he comply with a supervision order. These include records of Police Courts, Local Courts, Licensing Courts, Coroners' Courts and Children's Courts. You cannot advise your client on whether to plead guilty unless you have read the Crown brief.The conference with the clientI am firmly of the view that there is no point in attempting to have a conference with the client if you have not read the brief. Perth Roebourne Sexual Offences Counselling and support services 1800 Respect, National counselling helpline: 1800 737 732 Bravehearts, counselling and support for survivors of child sexual abuse: 1800 272 831 Child Wise, counselling provider: 1800 991 099 Lifeline, 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention: 13 11 14 Regina v Thomson & Houlton (2000) 49 NSWLR 383.The offender expressed his contrition to the psychologist Mr Tinker and it is anticipated he will express his contrition in evidence today. Sentencing Dangerous Offenders - Extended & Life Sentences Maximum statutory fines payable on conviction Appeal a sentence or conviction Deportation of criminals Criminal Records Rehabilitation of Offenders & Spent Sentences Open Justice Find information about criminal offences, defendants, barristers, solicitors and judges. Regina v Durocher -Yvon [2003] NSWCCA 299. Psychiatric/Psychological reports 14 December 2022 1 minute read. However the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal has held in . Word. For Western Australian courts, selected sentencing remarks are available on the Supreme Court and District Court websites. There was no actual violence in the course of the robbery although there was of course the threat of violence and no doubt the victims of the robbery would have been very frightened.Robberies can be regarded in escalating seriousness with the carrying of a firearm, the firearm being loaded, the weapon being fired, and the weapon being aimed at someone while fired: This link goes directly to Sentences. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. District Court Act 1991; Environment, Resources & Development Court Act 1993; Magistrates Court Act 1991; Youth Court Act 1993; Bail Act 1985; I prefer to tell the client in advance that at some stage in his evidence in chief I will ask him to tell the judge how he feels about the fact that he has pleaded guilty to this offence or offences, and that that question will be his cue to turn to the judge and speak from his heart about how he feels. Maximum and Minimum penalties are often fixed by various Acts to particular crimes. Court users and members of the public can get copies of sentencing remarks handed down by the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The Sheriffs and the Sheriff Clerk's staff deal with a variety of business which fall into the categories of Criminal, Civil and Commissary. Purchase. The records date from the establishmentof the Colony and are used to traceforebears for family history, to investigatethe history of crime in the State and for solicitors needing files relating to current cases. These sentencing remarks are often published on Australian court websites. The JCA is the national representative body for Australian judicial officers. An Australian man has pleaded guilty to abducting four-year-old Cleo Smith and holding her at his home for 18 days. Below are links to information about the District Court. The Public Defenders' web site has tables of cases for many of the offences which frequently come up in the District Court.Some of you may have access to the graphs for sentences prepared by the Judicial Commission. Sentencing in the District Court : Practical Considerations John Stratton SC Deputy Senior Public Defender Introduction A vast majority (perhaps 85%) of criminal cases in the District Court end up being pleas of guilty to something. Appointments can be made by phoning the office number:. Rules and forms. A Grant of Probate is the official proving of a Will. I try to set out the advantages and disadvantages of pleading guilty. Decisions & PublicationsCriminal DecisionsSentencing Guide. Regina v Totten [2003] NSWCCA 207 and However it is permissible to state that a study of (for example) cases for this type of offence indicates that normally the head sentence is in the order of 6 or 7 years.Special circumstances'Special circumstances' of course refers to the requirement that the proportion of the total sentence to be served on parole must not exceed one third of the non-parole period unless there are special circumstances: s. 44 The Court is open to the public. The second thing to check is that the version of the facts given in the report is consistent with your instructions, that is, what you expect your client will say in the witness box if called.If you have decided to use a report, wherever possible serve a copy on the Crown prior to the sentence hearing. 737 total criminal hearings, including both sentencing hearings and trials, were heard in the Circuit courts in 2019. There is also a Children's Drug Court available for minors. Regina v Ibrahimi [2005] NSWCCA 153 at paras [16] to [18].Plea of GuiltyYou should refer to the fact that the plea of guilty is both evidence of contrition, and entitles the offender to the utilitarian benefit for the plea, as set out in Rules and forms. Peter Stamatopoulos was sentenced to jail for eight years. Records which may prove especially useful are the Minutes of Evidence of the Police Court, Local Court, Court of Petty Sessions and the Court of Quarter Sessions, which can provide information on the trials of criminals for a variety of offences. Regina v Henry because a firearm was used. Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act. The estates of those who died in the Colony between 1829 and 1831 were administered in Britain, were settled informally, or were settled later. One of the main considerations is that if you end up with a relatively lenient sentence, it will be easier to hold the sentence in the Court of Criminal Appeal if the client has given evidence.Calling the clientIt is very useful to have a written proof of evidence from your client before calling him.I normally take a more or less chronological account of the client's life, in particular the time leading up to the commission of the offence. 11. It would be a rare case in which you would consider calling more than two character witnesses.Naturally it is very important to properly interview any character witness before you call the witness. This booklet attempts to provide answers to some of the many questions people have about how sentencing occurs in Australia. Uniform Civil Rules and Forms 2020; Joint Criminal Rules and Forms 2022; Uniform Special Statutory Rules 2022; . Records relating to various Resident Magistrates may also be located through the listings at the hardcopy AN 17 finding aid available at the State Records Office oronlineunder the name of the required Magistrate's district. Range of sentencesIn the guideline judgment of As well as acting as the Magistrate for the Local Court, the Court of Petty Sessions and the Licensing Court, Resident Magistrates were often required to conduct other functions such as Electoral Registrar, Collector of Customs and Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. To what extent is the discretion limited? The first and most important thing to check is that your client's version of the offence in the report is consistent with a plea of guilty. The judges reasons for the sentence are given in his/her sentencing remarks. Please turn on JavaScript and try again. For example, the Environment Protection Act may apply in a case involving environmental crime. A sentence is the penalty for committing a crime. Frankly, a strong argument for obtaining such a report is that at the end of the day, for whatever reason, you are unable to call your client, at least you will have some means of putting a subjective case before the sentencing judge.The next question is whether it is better to obtain a report from a psychiatrist or a psychologist.If there are issues about violence or dangerousness to the community (particularly in sexual matters), I think it is preferable to obtain a report from a psychiatrist. In addition, and depending on the result, you may want to either advise the client of his right of appeal, in one situation, or on the other hand you might want to tell your client to thank his lucky stars.John Stratton SCDeputy Senior Public Defender10 September 2007, REGINA v SMITH Tribunal hearings and directions are open to the public, however, compulsory conferences and mediation sittings are closed. Please see theAccessing Restricted Records sectionfor information on how to apply for access to restricted records. Other matters. The sentencing decision was made on the basis that his use of "anti-libidinal drugs" had deprived him of his sex drive. Section 4 of the Ultimately, if there is an irreconcilable difference over the facts, the solution may be to have a contested hearing on the facts in which prosecution witnesses and your client will have to give evidence. The Court is located on Tay Street, near the Queens Bridge, close to the town centre and accessible by public transport. RecordThe offender has a limited record and there are some matters of violence which are of concern. The main categories of Supreme Court records held by the State Records Office are: To appeal is to call upon a higher court to reconsider the judgement of a lower court. At the end of the non-parole period the Parole Board decides whether an offender will be released on parole. How will we know? Objective gravity at para [23].There may be situations where the Crown is not prepared to remove from the facts an assertion which your client insists is untrue. A Perth school teacher has been sentenced to seven years and six months imprisonment for sexually grooming three students over a two-year period and lying to education department authorities about being in a "relationship" with a 13-year-old girl. After 1903, naturalisation was transferred to Commonwealth jurisdiction.
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