Assignment Task
Background
Amandip Singh was on trial in the Supreme Court, charged with the murder of Joshua Frazer. He was found guilty and sentenced to 26 years of imprisonment.
The death took place outside a café on 31 December 2022 at 11:15 pm. At that time Singh and his friend, Sanchez Alexi, were traveling in a vehicle. They stopped at a red light at the intersection where the café is located. At that time there were a number of people standing on the footpath outside the café, including Frazer. According to witnesses at the scene, Singh was seated in the front passenger seat, while Alexi was driving. Singh abruptly got out of the car and proceeded to confront Frazer. Singh shoved Frazer in the chest, who then responded by punching Singh, who fell to the ground. Alexi then got out of the car and ran to Frazer, pushing him away from Singh. Singh then stood up, took out a metal object, and then stabbed Frazer in the neck. Frazer collapsed, and both Singh and Alexi then absconded from the scene.
As Frazer was found unconscious and bleeding heavily, he was taken to a nearby hospital immediately, but he was pronounced dead on arrival. A subsequent report by a forensic pathologist later stated that the cause of death was a stab wound that penetrated the gap in the left collar bone to a depth of 15cm, severing major arteries. Soon after the incident, police made a media announcement, releasing still images taken from CCTV footage of Singh and Alexi, asking them to assist police with enquiries.
On 2 January 2022 at 6.40 PM, Sanchez voluntarily attended the local Police Station and spoke with Sergeant Sarah Walsh. Sgt Walsh asked Alexi what she could help him with. Alexi told Sgt Walsh he wanted to hand himself in and help the police. Alexi was soon after interviewed by Detective Sergeant Hamilton Roberts and Detective Faud Ahmed from the Murder Squad. He participated in an electronically recorded interview where the events above were outlined, he was then arrested and remanded in custody.
On 3 January 2022 at 8.30AM, police attended an address where they arrested Amandip. A search of the premises found nothing unusual. Amandip was taken to Police Station and interviewed by Detectives Fitzgerald and Moorbank in the presence of his lawyer, Dennis. After giving his name, date of birth and address, Amandip said to police ‘On the advice of my lawyer, I decline to answer any questions.’ He remained silent during the remainder of the interview. He was then formally arrested and charged with the murder of Frazer and remanded in custody pending his trial.
The Trial
In the latter part of 2022, Sanchez Alexi agreed with the DPP to give evidence against Amandip Singh. The agreement was that Alexi would have his assistance to the police taken into account at his own sentencing hearing when the time came. Sanchez has indicated to the DPP his intention to plead guilty at that time to a manslaughter charge. The DPP has given an undertaking to provide evidence of his assistance to the police as a mitigating factor on sentence, subject to Alexi giving evidence at Singh’s trial.
Amanda was convicted. He has instructed you to appeal. In your appeal submission, consider the following points.
The Crown Prosecutor called Sanchez Alexi to give evidence. The prosecution prepared the case based on the interviews with Alexi, and the statement he made to police in January 2022. The following paragraphs have been highlighted from the signed interview transcript of Alexi:
Questions
- What was it that Amandip used to stab the victim? Do you recall?
- A wood crafting chisel?
- Yeah. We used to smoke ice in the back shed. There were some chisels on the workbench. Reg used a grinder to sharpen it into this fucken nasty pointed shiv
- How long would say this was Where? In a bag?
- A holster? Do you mean a sheath?
During evidence in chief, the Crown Prosecutor asked, ‘After you pushed Mr Frazer, what happened then?’. Alexi then replied, ‘I’m not sure. It was all so fast. I don’t think I pushed him.’ The Prosecutor then asked, ‘And what did Mr Singh do?’ Alexi replied, ‘I can’t remember.’
At this point, the Prosecutor felt Alexi’s testimony was unhelpful and sought leave of the court to cross examine him. The trial judge swiftly granted the leave, without seeking the defence counsel’s views.
Discuss what submission you can make about the leave being granted. Your submission should refer to any relevant law and procedure.
The Crown Prosecutor had issued a subpoena for Sharlene, to give evidence as part of the prosecution case. In introductory evidence, the Crown Prosecutor established that Amandip and Sharlene were living together and had two children, but they have never married.
Sharlene was clearly uncomfortable about testifying and began sobbing in the witness box. She proceeded to say to the court that ‘this event was devastating’ and ‘I felt terrible having to give evidence against Amandip’.
The Judge then said to the Crown Prosecutor that ‘an objection has been raised by the witness. I don’t think she is compellable’.
In response, the Crown Prosecutor submitted that because Sharlene was not married to the accused, she was a compellable witness. And that living together and having children together was irrelevant. The judge accepted the prosecution’s submission and ruled that Sharlene be compelled to testify.
Discuss what submission you can make about the leave being granted. Again, you should refer to any relevant law.
As the trial progressed, the Crown Prosecutor called Dr Berie Megabi, a Forensic Pathologist, who conducted the post-mortem on Frazer. The Crown Prosecutor established that Dr Megabi has been a forensic pathologist for 20 years and qualified as both a medical practitioner and pathologist at the University of Gondar in 2020. During his examination in chief, the following exchange took place:
- Dr Megabi, in your report you say, if I may put it in simple terms, that the cause of death was a catastrophic stab wound down through the left side of the neck. Am I right in saying that?
- Would it be fair to say that such an injury was made with some force? A: Certainly.
- And there would have been a lot of blood loss?
- I see. Dr Megabi, the murder weapon used in this case has never been found. In your opinion, what would be the likely object used?