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R v Thomas

R v Thomas

Case [2015] NSWSC 537 8 May 2015

Criminal Liability

Mental Health Law

Unlawful and Dangerous Act

Dangerousness Test

Reckless Infliction of Grievous Bodily Harm

Criminal Law

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Supreme Court

New South Wales

Summary available
Amendment notes

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Thomas [2015] NSWSC 537
Hearing dates: 5, 6 May 2015
Decision date: 08 May 2015
Before: R A Hulme J
Decision:
Manslaughter: Not guilty
Reckless grievous bodily harm: On the limited evidence available, the accused committed the offence

Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – accused unfit to plead - special hearing – judge alone - manslaughter – reckless infliction of grievous bodily harm – Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 (NSW) ss 19, 21 and 21A
CRIMINAL LAW – manslaughter – unlawful and dangerous act – dangerousness test – attributes of reasonable person - accused of moderate intellectual disability – extremely poor information processing speed and impaired conceptual reasoning – accused’s level of intellectual disability attributed to reasonable person
Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) s 35(2)(b)
Criminal Code (Tas) s 156 (2)(b)
Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 (NSW) ss 16, 19, 21
Cases Cited: Director of Public Prosecutions v Newbury [1977] AC 500
Director of Public Prosecutions (Vic) v TY [2006] VSC 494; 167 A Crim R 596
Lane v R [2013] NSWCCA 317
Leigh Ann Russell by her next friend Julie Ann Russell v Rail Infrastructure Corporation [2007] NSWSC 402
McHale v Watson [1966] HCA 13; 115 CLR 199
R v Besim [2004] VSC 169; 148 A Crim R 28
R v Edwards [2008] SASC 303
R v Holzer [1968] VR 481
R v Thomas [2014] NSWSC 1181
R v Vangelder (Court of Criminal Appeal (NSW), 28 February 1994, unrep)
R v Wills [1983] 2 VR 201
Royall v The Queen [1991] HCA 27; 172 CLR 378
Stingel v The Queen [1990] HCA 61; 171 CLR 312
The Queen v Lavender [2005] HCA 37; 222 CLR 67
Wilson v The Queen [1992] HCA 31; 174 CLR 313
Category: Principal judgment
Parties: Regina
Michael Thomas
Representation:
Counsel:
Mr P Lynch (Crown)
Mr M Ierace SC (Accused)
Solicitors:
Solicitor for Public Prosecutions
Legal Aid NSW

File Number(s): 2013/30962

Judgment

HIS HONOUR: Michael Thomas ("the accused"), then known as Jose Antonio Reyes, was born in Chile in 1988. His mother had a severe intellectual disability and was unable to care for him. They lived in extreme poverty. He suffered deprivation and malnutrition and was hospitalised. He was adopted shortly before his third birthday by Maurice and Susan Thomas and was raised in the western Sydney suburb of Emu Plains.
The accused was assessed by a clinical neuropsychologist and forensic psychologist, Dr Susan Pulman, in 2013. She found that he had a "moderate intellectual disability". She assessed him as functioning below 99.9 per cent of the population, features of which included extremely limited attention, extremely poor information processing speed and impaired conceptual reasoning abilities.
Susan Thomas was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2011. She underwent surgery and then embarked upon a course of chemotherapy. In November 2012 she was informed that the cancer had metastasized. Her decline thereafter was rapid. By…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading R v Thomas

Details

AGLC: R v Thomas [2015] NSWSC 537
Case: [2015] NSWSC 537
Decision Date: 08 May 2015

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case of R v Thomas involved the defendant, Thomas, who was charged with manslaughter. The dispute centred on whether Thomas was fit to plead and, if so, whether he had committed the offence of manslaughter through a reckless act resulting in grievous bodily harm. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The court had to determine whether Thomas was fit to plead, and if so, whether he had committed manslaughter.

The legal issues before the court included whether Thomas was fit to plead, and if so, whether he could be found guilty of manslaughter. The court needed to assess Thomas's fitness to plead under the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 (NSW), considering his intellectual disability, poor information processing speed, and impaired conceptual reasoning. The court also had to determine whether the accused's level of intellectual disability should be attributed to a reasonable person in assessing whether the act was dangerous.

The court found that Thomas was unfit to plead due to his moderate intellectual disability and associated cognitive impairments. The court held that these factors made it impossible for Thomas to understand the nature and object of the proceedings or to make a proper defence. Consequently, the court found Thomas not guilty of manslaughter and ordered his detention under the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 (NSW). The court concluded that attributing Thomas's level of intellectual disability to a reasonable person would not alter the assessment of the dangerousness of his act.

Orders