CITATION: CLARKE -v- THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA [2022] WASCA 6
CORAM: BUSS P
MAZZA JA
MITCHELL JA
HEARD: 25 JUNE 2021
DELIVERED : 1 FEBRUARY 2022
FILE NO/S: CACR 200 of 2019
BETWEEN: AMBROSE JOHN CLARKE
Appellant
AND
THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Respondent
FILE NO/S: CACR 59 of 2020
BETWEEN: XAVIER GERARD CLARKE
Appellant
AND
THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Respondent
ON APPEAL FROM:
Jurisdiction : SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Coram: CORBOY J
File Number : INS 82 of 2012
Catchwords:
Criminal law - Appeals against conviction - Appellants convicted after trial of murder - Intention to kill - Causation - Whether the jury's verdicts as to the element of intent to kill and as to causation of the deceased's death were unreasonable or not supported by the evidence
Legislation:
Criminal Code (WA), s 268, s 270, s 277, s 279
Result:
CACR 200 of 2019 Application for an extension of time to appeal granted Leave to appeal on ground 1 and ground 2 granted Appeal dismissed
CACR 59 of 2020 Application for an extension of time to appeal granted Leave to appeal on ground 1 and ground 2 granted Appeal dismissed
[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.
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AGLC
Clarke v The State of Western Australia [2022] WASCA 6
Case
[2022] WASCA 6
Decision Date
CaseChat Overview and Summary
Ambrose Clarke and Xavier Clarke were jointly charged with the murder of Peter Davis. They were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 21 years. They appealed against their convictions on two grounds: the jury's verdict as to the causation of the deceased's death was unreasonable and not supported by the evidence, and the jury's verdict as to the element of intent to kill was unreasonable or not supported by the evidence. The court granted leave to appeal on both grounds but dismissed the appeals. The court found that the jury was entitled to conclude that the appellants intended to kill the deceased, and that the evidence supported the conclusion that the appellants' actions caused the deceased's death. The court found that the jury's verdicts were not unreasonable or unsupported by the evidence.