R v Milan Tomac No. SCCRM 95/596 Judgment No. 5638 Number of Pages 13 Criminal Law (1996) 67 Sasr 376

In the case of R v Milan Tomac, the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia heard an appeal against both the conviction and the sentence imposed on the appellant, Milan Tomac. The appellant was found guilty of manslaughter for the shooting death of Anthony Mark Wilson, who was one of a group of men attempting to steal marijuana from the appellant's property. The appellant claimed that the shooting was accidental, resulting from a reflex action as he ducked to avoid rocks being thrown at him. The legal issues in the appeal centred on whether the trial judge's directions to the jury on self-defence and criminal negligence were adequate, and whether the sentence imposed was excessive. The court found that the trial judge's directions on self-defence and criminal negligence were sufficient and correctly aligned with statutory provisions and previous judicial interpretations. The court also determined that the original sentence of seven years imprisonment with a non-parole period of three and a half years was manifestly excessive, and reduced the sentence to five years with a non-parole period of two years. The appeal against the conviction was dismissed, while the appeal against the sentence was allowed.