R v Clune No. Sccrm-98-96 Judgment No. S6722

[1998] SASC 6722

R  v CLUNE

Court of Criminal Appeal Doyle CJ, Williams and Bleby JJ

DOYLE CJ

This is an application for leave to appeal against conviction.  The applicant was convicted of armed robbery and related offences.

Leave to appeal against conviction was granted by Prior J on grounds 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, and refused by Prior J on grounds 1, 2 and 3.

By application dated 27 April 1998, the applicant applied to have determined by the Full Court his application for leave to appeal against conviction.  The application was considered in private pursuant to Rule 15(7) of the Supreme Court Criminal Appeal Rules.

The application was considered by a court comprising me, Williams and Bleby JJ.

We are unanimously of the opinion that leave to appeal should be refused.

The grounds upon which the application was made involve a challenge to findings made by the trial judge on the voir dire.  Bearing in mind the advantages of the judge who heard the evidence and the nature of the challenges to his findings, in our opinion there is no realistic prospect of the challenge to his decision succeeding.

For this reason, the court would refuse leave to appeal on the grounds upon which the applicant seeks leave to appeal.

The order of the court is that leave to appeal against conviction on grounds 1, 2 and 3 be refused.