R v Genovese CA151/02

Ricardo Genovese was convicted of multiple charges including aggravated robbery, theft, and unlawful possession of firearms. He appealed against both his conviction and sentence. The Court of Appeal dismissed both the appeal against conviction and the appeal against sentence. The appellant's primary contention was that he did not receive a fair trial, primarily because he was left to represent himself without counsel for the last two weeks of a three-week trial. The Court found that the appellant's conduct had led to the dismissal of his first counsel, Mr Bioletti, and subsequently his second counsel, Mr Edgar, leading to the appellant being compelled to represent himself. The Court found that the appellant's actions were designed to manipulate the system and cause a mistrial. The appellant also argued that his counsel was incompetent for not applying for severance of the counts of aggravated robbery, for not investigating alibi witnesses, and for not seeking disclosure of security tapes. The Court found these arguments to be without merit, stating that the circumstantial evidence against the appellant was overwhelming and that any failure to view the security tapes could not have had a significant prejudicial effect on the outcome of the trial. The Court concluded that the appellant had received a fair trial and dismissed the appeal against conviction. As the appeal against conviction was dismissed, the appeal against sentence was also dismissed.