Registrar of the Supreme Court of South Australia v Zappia No. Scciv-02-1324

In the Supreme Court of South Australia, the Registrar of the Supreme Court of South Australia has brought proceedings against Zappia for two counts of contempt of court arising from his refusal to answer questions directed by the trial judge during the trial of his co-accused, Kamleh. The first charge relates to Zappia’s refusal to answer questions put to him by the prosecutor in the course of a voir dire examination on 8 August 2002. The second charge relates to Zappia’s refusal to answer questions during the trial on 28 August 2002. Zappia pleaded not guilty to both charges. The court was required to decide whether Zappia’s refusal to answer questions amounted to contempt of court and, if so, whether his claim to privilege against self-incrimination was justified. Zappia argued that his refusal to answer questions was justified because he had an appeal pending against his conviction for manslaughter and he did not want to incriminate himself in relation to that appeal or in relation to a possible charge of perjury. The court rejected Zappia’s claim to privilege on both grounds. The court found that Zappia had waived his privilege by giving sworn evidence at his own trial concerning the events about which he was being questioned on this trial. The court also found that Zappia’s real motive for refusing to answer questions was not to protect himself from incrimination but to avoid giving evidence against his co-accused on this trial. The court held that Zappia was guilty of both charges of contempt. The court ordered that Zappia be punished for contempt of court.