R v Blackman [2018] NSWSC 395

R v Blackman [2018] NSWSC 395

All five sets of admissions were inadmissible under s 84 of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW). The Court was affirmatively satisfied on the balance of probabilities that, when Mr Miringaorangi visited the accused at Murwillumbah Hospital around lunchtime on 5 April 2014, he threatened the accused with violence if the accused did not confess to the murder of the deceased, and that the threat played a significant role in the inculpatory things the accused subsequently said. The Crown did not prove that the admissions and their making were not influenced by that threat, particularly given the accused's cognitive impairment, confusion, physical illness, suggestibility, and the close temporal...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
29 March 2018
Procedural Posture
Criminal Special Hearing on a Count of Murder / Voir Dire and Evidentiary Ruling on Admissibility of Admissions
Outcome
All five sets of admissions objected to were excluded.
Legal Topics
['murder' 'special Hearing' 'fitness to Stand Trial' 'judge Alone Proceedings' 'admissions' 'exclusion of Evidence' 'violence or Threats Influencing Admissions' 'reliability of Admissions' 'unfairness Discretion' 'improperly or Illegally Obtained Evidence' 'cautioning of Persons' 'electronic Recording of Admissions']
['criminal Law' 'evidence' 'criminal Procedure'] ['murder' 'special Hearing' 'fitness to Stand Trial' 'judge Alone Proceedings' 'admissions' 'exclusion of Evidence' 'violence or Threats Influencing Admissions' 'reliability of Admissions' 'unfairness Discretion' 'improperly or Illegally Obtained Evidence' 'cautioning of Persons' 'electronic Recording of Admissions']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Criminal Special Hearing on a Count of Murder / Voir Dire and Evidentiary Ruling on Admissibility of Admissions

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether five sets of admissions allegedly made by the accused should be excluded under s 84 of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) because they were influenced by violent, oppressive, inhuman or degrading conduct or a threat of such conduct.' 'Whether the first and fourth sets of admissions should be excluded under s 85 of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) because the circumstances did not make it unlikely that their truth was adversely affected.' 'Whether all five sets of admissions should be excluded under s 90 of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) because it would be unfair to use them against the accused.' 'Whether the first, second and third sets of admissions should be excluded under s 138, and where applicable s 139, of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW).' 'Whether the third set of admissions was inadmissible under s 281 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) because it was not electronically recorded.']

Ratio Decidendi

All five sets of admissions were inadmissible under s 84 of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW). The Court was affirmatively satisfied on the balance of probabilities that, when Mr Miringaorangi visited the accused at Murwillumbah Hospital around lunchtime on 5 April 2014, he threatened the accused with violence if the accused did not confess to the murder of the deceased, and that the threat played a significant role in the inculpatory things the accused subsequently said. The Crown did not prove that the admissions and their making were not influenced by that threat, particularly given the accused's cognitive impairment, confusion, physical illness, suggestibility, and the close temporal...

Court Disposition

All five sets of admissions objected to were excluded.

Orders

  • ['All five sets of admissions objected to are excluded.']