R v Pangilinan

[2001] QCA 81

SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CITATION:

R v Pangilinan  [2001] QCA 81

PARTIES:

R
v
PANGILINAN,  Jorai Severo
(appellant)

FILE NO/S:

CA No 180 of 2000
SC No 265 of 2000

DIVISION:

Court of Appeal

PROCEEDING:

Appeal against Conviction

ORIGINATING COURT:

Supreme Court at Brisbane

DELIVERED ON:

13 March 2001

DELIVERED AT:

Brisbane

HEARING DATE:

26 February 2001

JUDGE:

McMurdo P, Williams JA, Wilson J
Judgment of the Court

ORDER:

Appeal against conviction dismissed

CATCHWORDS:

CRIMINAL LAW – APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL, PARDON AND ENQUIRY AFTER CONVICTION – APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL – PARTICULAR GROUNDS – UNREASONABLE OR INSUPPORTABLE VERDICT – PARTICULAR CASES – appellant convicted of murder – whether verdict of jury internally inconsistent

MacKenzie v R (1996) 190 CLR 348, considered

COUNSEL:

T D Martin SC for the appellant
M J Byrne QC for the respondent

SOLICITORS:

Legal Aid Queensland for the appellant
Director of Public Prosecutions (Queensland) for the respondent

1. THE COURT:  The appellant, Jorai Severo Pangilinan, appeals against his conviction for the murder of Kevin Sutton Anderson at The Gig Nightclub on or about 1 February 1998.  The contention is that such a verdict by the jury was inconsistent with the verdict that the appellant was not guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to Hilton Todd Owens with intent to do grievous bodily harm and was, for that reason, unsafe and unsatisfactory.  The inconsistency was said to be between the satisfaction of the jury that the appellant had an intention to kill or do grievous bodily harm to Anderson and their conclusion that he did not have an intention to cause grievous bodily harm to Owens.  The consequence of the submissions made on behalf of the appellant was that a conviction for manslaughter should be substituted for that of murder.

1. It should be recorded that counsel for the appellant expressly abandoned the remaining ground raised by the notice of appeal.

1. As a result of a few minutes of mayhem at the nightclub on the evening in question Anderson died from a single knife wound to his chest, Owens received a cut in his left lower neck region, Gary Wayne Pryer sustained a number of injuries including a deep short laceration over his left eye, and Darrin Van Johnson received a four centimetre cut to his left lateral forearm which cut deep into his muscle.  It was admitted by the appellant that he had the knife in his hand when it occasioned each of those injuries.  The indictment presented against the appellant contained five counts: 

Count 1 - murder of Anderson;

Count 2 - grievous bodily harm to Owens with intent to do grievous bodily harm;

Count 3 - alternatively to count 2, grievous bodily harm to Owens;

Count 4 - unlawful wounding Pryer;

Count 5 - unlawful wounding Johnson.

1. The jury returned guilty verdicts with respect to counts 1, 3, 4 and 5; as already noted the appellant was found not guilty of count 2.

1. Anderson, Owens, Pryer and Johnson were all African-American sailors on leave…