R v Deborah Joy Davidson

[2000] NSWSC 188

CITATION:	R v Deborah Joy Davidson & Anor [2000] NSWSC 188
FILE NUMBER(S):	SC 70205/99; 70206/99
HEARING DATE(S):	15 March 2000
JUDGMENT DATE:	15 March 2000
PARTIES :	Regina v Deborah Joy Davidson Regina v Mark William Helmhout
JUDGMENT OF:	Bell J

COUNSEL :	C: Mr R D Cogswell SC DD: Mr J S Stratton MH: Mr G Corr
SOLICITORS:	C: D Knott, Director of Public Prosecutions DD: Brenda Duchen MH: J R Jeffery, South Eastern Aboriginal Legal Service
CATCHWORDS:	CRIMINAL LAW - Application for verdict by direction - Accessory after the fact to murder - whether failure to establish prima facie case
DECISION:	Declined

THE SUPREME COURT
OF NEW SOUTH WALES
CRIMINAL DIVISION

BELL J

WEDNESDAY 15 MARCH 2000


70205/99 - REGINA v DEBORAH JOY DAVIDSON
70206/99 - REGINA v MARK WILLIAM HELMHOUT

JUDGMENT - Application for Verdict by Direction

1    HER HONOUR: Mr Stratton submits that the Crown has failed to establish a prima facie case as against his client, the accused Deborah Davidson, and accordingly he seeks a verdict by direction. It is Mr Stratton's submission that at the time the accused performed the acts relied upon by the Crown as constituting her an accessory after the fact to murder, the Crown had failed to exclude the reasonable possibility that the deceased, Paul Harris, was still alive.

2    Mr Stratton pointed to evidence that no person at the unit had made any checks to determine whether the deceased was indeed dead.

3    Dr Jain and Dr Duflou considered that the evidence of an accumulation of blood in the left pleural cavity was suggestive that fractures to the left rib region were sustained whilst the deceased was still alive. This, it was submitted, points to the deceased being alive at a time after the last episode of strangling, having regard to the chronology of events described by the witness, Edward Szkudelski.

4    On such a view some further act or acts causing, or significantly contributing, to the death of the deceased may have occurred after the body was carried out of the Trinculo Place unit.

5    The accused could not be an accessory after the fact if the crime was not complete when she provided assistance to the principal felon.

6    Drs Jain and Duflou both expressed the opinion that the death of the deceased was due to strangulation. The evidence of the witness, Edward Szkudelski, in combination with the medical evidence, would in my view permit the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the deceased was killed in the unit at 10/30 Trinculo Place, and that the accused, Deborah Davidson, was aware of the commission of that offence at the time she did the acts upon which the Crown relies.

7    Accordingly, I decline the application.

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Last Modified: 09/25/2000