R v Deane-Johns

The appellant, R v Deane-Johns, appealed against his conviction for four counts of threatening life and one count of possessing a prescribed firearm, as well as his sentence of six years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of four years. The appeal was heard by Justice Sulan, Justice Vanstone, and Justice Peek.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge erred by failing to discharge the jury or an individual juror after it was revealed that the juror had a prior, albeit superficial, acquaintance with a key prosecution witness, Sergeant Devey. Additionally, the court considered whether the trial judge had erred in providing the jury with a written memorandum and in directing them not to consider the credibility of the STAR Force officers.

The court reasoned that the juror's acquaintance with Sergeant Devey was of a very superficial nature, having met him and his wife briefly approximately four years prior during an antenatal course. The juror herself indicated she did not believe it to be a problem. The trial judge had made inquiries into the extent of the relationship and was satisfied that it did not compromise the juror's impartiality. The Court of Appeal agreed with this assessment, finding no error in the judge's decision not to discharge the jury or the individual juror. The court also found no error in the provision of the written memorandum or the direction regarding the credibility of the STAR Force officers, as these directions were considered appropriate in the context of the trial.

The appeal against conviction was dismissed. However, the appeal against sentence was allowed, with the head sentence reduced to five years and ten months' imprisonment, and the non-parole period reduced to three years and ten months, to date from 6 October 2010.