R v Saavedra

[2025] NSWDC 265

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

R v Saavedra [2025] NSWDC 265

Hearing dates:

Aborted Trial – 28/01/2025, 29/01/2025

Trial – 30/01/2025, 31/01/2025, 3/02/2025, 4/02/2025, 5/02/2025, 6/02/2025

Costs Application – 27/03/2025, 18/07/2025

Date of orders:

18 July 2025

Decision date:

18 July 2025

Jurisdiction:

Criminal

Before:

Wilson SC DCJ

Decision:

See [43]

Catchwords:

CRIME – Application for costs following not guilty verdict

Legislation Cited:

Costs in Criminal Cases Act 1967 (NSW)

Cases Cited:

Mordaunt v Director of Public Prosecutions & Anor [2007] NSWCA 121

Category:

Costs

Parties:

Jason Saavedra
Rex

Representation:

Counsel:
Hatch (for the Crown)
Conwell (for the applicant)

Solicitors:
ODPP (for the Crown)
Byrnes (for the applicant)

File Number(s):

2023/00316726

Publication restriction:

Non-publication order relating to the identity of the complainant.

JUDGMENT

INTRODUCTION

1. Jason Saavedra (the applicant) makes an application for a costs certificate pursuant to the Costs in Criminal Cases Act 1967 (NSW) (CCCA) in respect of a Trial which commenced in Gosford on Thursday 30 January 2025.

2. On Thursday 6 February 2025, a jury of twelve found the applicant not guilty of the four charges on the Indictment version 29.2.

STATUTORY FRAMEWORK

3. The CCCA governs the granting of certificates. It provides as follows:

3   Form of certificate

(1)  A certificate granted under this Act shall specify that, in the opinion of the Court or Judge or Magistrate granting the certificate—

(a)  if the prosecution had, before the proceedings were instituted, been in possession of evidence of all the relevant facts, it would not have been reasonable to institute the proceedings, and

(b)  that any act or omission of the defendant that contributed, or might have contributed, to the institution or continuation of the proceedings was reasonable in the circumstances.

3A   Evidence of further relevant facts may be adduced

(1)  For the purpose of determining whether or not to grant a certificate under section 2 in relation to any proceedings, the reference in section 3 (1) (a) to all the relevant facts is a reference to—

(a)  the relevant facts established in the proceedings, and

(b)  any relevant facts that the defendant has, on the application for the certificate, established to the satisfaction of the Court or Judge or Magistrate, and

(c)  any relevant facts that the prosecutor, or in the absence of the prosecutor, any person authorised to represent the Minister on the application, has established to the satisfaction of the Court or Judge or Magistrate that—

(i)  relate to evidence that was in the possession of the prosecutor at the time that the decision to institute proceedings was made, and

(ii)  were not adduced in the proceedings.

4. Subsections 2 and 3 have no bearing on this application.

LEGAL PRINCIPLES

5. The principles relating to the granting of a certificate under section 2 are well established and best summarised in Mordaunt v Director of Public Prosecutions & Anor [2007] NSWCA 121 at [36]:

“The following principles can be extracted from the authorities dealing with applications for a s 2 certificate:

(a) The CCC…