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Aliano v Tasmania

Aliano v Tasmania

Case [2025] TASCCA 4 10 June 2025

Statutory Interpretation

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[2025] TASCCA 4

COURT:	SUPREME COURT OF TASMANIA (COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL)
CITATION:	Aliano v Tasmania [2025] TASCCA 4
PARTIES:	ALIANO, Thomas James
v
STATE OF TASMANIA
FILE NO:	2096/2024
DELIVERED ON:	10 June 2025
DELIVERED AT:	Hobart
HEARING DATE:	28 May 2025
JUDGMENT OF:	Pearce J, Jago J, Porter AJ
CATCHWORDS:

Criminal law – Appeal and new trial – Verdict unreasonable or insupportable having regard to evidence – Appeal dismissed – Appellant charged with committing an unlawful act intended to cause bodily harm Victim the initial aggressor – Appellant struck victim multiple blows with a hammer – Claim of acting in self-defence – Contradictory evidence of eye witnesses – Open for jury to rely on one witness – Evidence of one blow which felled the victim before blows continued – Verdict of not guilty but guilty of wounding not unreasonable or insupportable.

Aust Dig Criminal Law [3476]

Criminal law – Appeal and new trial – Appeal against sentence –Grounds for interference – Sentence manifestly excessive or inadequate – Wounding – Multiple blows to victim with a hammer. – Claim of self-defence – Evidence only permitted finding of one blow in excessive use of force which caused a wound – Head wound but uncertainty in evidence about its extent – Term of imprisonment of two years and three months with eligibility for parole after one year and three months manifestly excessive.

Aust Dig Criminal Law [3521]

Legislation:

Criminal Code (Tas), s 46

Cases:

REPRESENTATION:

Counsel:

Appellant: K Baumeler
Respondent: L Ogden

Solicitors:

Respondent: Director of Public Prosecutions

Judgment Number:	[2025] TASCCA 4
Number of paragraphs:	60

Serial No 4/2025

File No CCA 2096/2024

THOMAS JAMES ALIANO v STATE OF TASMANIA

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT	COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL PEARCE J JAGO J PORTER AJ 10 June 2025
Order of the Court:

1            Leave to appeal against conviction granted but appeal dismissed;
2            Appeal against sentence allowed;
3            Sentence of imprisonment for two years and three months from 26 June 2023 imposed by Martin AJ on 21 June 2024 quashed;
4            Appellant re-sentenced to imprisonment for 18 months from 26 June 2023. Appellant not eligible for parole until having served 15 months of that term.

Serial No 4/2025

File No CCA 2096/2024

THOMAS JAMES ALIANO v STATE OF TASMANIA

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT	COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL PEARCE J 10 June 2025
The appeal

1 The appellant was found guilty by a jury of wounding contrary to the Criminal Code, s 172. He was acquitted of the more serious charge of committing an unlawful act intending to cause bodily harm under s 170, and guilty of wounding was returned as an alternative verdict. He was sentenced by Martin AJ on 21 June 2024 to imprisonment for two years and three months from 26 June 2023 with eligibility for parole after having served one year and three months of that term. This appeal concerns both the conviction and sentence. The appeal against conviction is on…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Aliano v Tasmania

Details

AGLC: Aliano v Tasmania [2025] TASCCA 4
Case: [2025] TASCCA 4
Decision Date: 10 June 2025

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The appeal concerned a criminal conviction in the Supreme Court of Tasmania. The appellant, Aliano, had been charged with committing an unlawful act intended to cause bodily harm. The victim was the initial aggressor, but the appellant struck the victim multiple blows with a hammer. Aliano claimed to have acted in self-defence.

The central legal issue before the Full Court of the Supreme Court of Tasmania was whether the jury's verdict was unreasonable or insupportable having regard to the evidence presented at trial. Specifically, the court had to consider whether it was open to the jury to find Aliano guilty of wounding, despite the victim's initial aggression and Aliano's claim of self-defence, given the contradictory evidence from eyewitnesses.

The court reasoned that the jury was entitled to accept the evidence of one witness over others, particularly where there was contradictory testimony. The evidence suggested that one blow from the hammer felled the victim, and that further blows were administered thereafter. This sequence of events, if accepted by the jury, demonstrated that the appellant's actions went beyond what might be considered necessary for self-defence. Therefore, the verdict of guilty of wounding, while acquitting Aliano of the more serious charge, was not considered unreasonable or insupportable in light of the evidence. The appeal was dismissed.

Orders