The Court:
Supreme Court of Victoria
The Charges
- Accessory to Murder
The Allegations
The client had been living with his 45-year-old housemate for almost two years. Their relationship was generally amicable. While the client and the housemate were at home, another man arrived at the house with whom the housemate had a longstanding personal rivalry. Tensions quickly escalated in the kitchen of the home, and a physical altercation ensued between the housemate and the visitor. During the fight, the housemate retrieved a kitchen knife and stabbed the victim in the abdomen. Despite immediate calls to triple zero, the victim died from his injuries.
The allegations were that following the stabbing, the housemate, in a panic, asked our client to assist him in destroying evidence, including disposing of the knife and helping him burn the clothes that he was wearing. The client agreed and helped his housemate.
The housemate was charged with Murder, whilst the client was charged with being an Accessory to Murder.
At Court
Unless there is an application for separate trials, both offenders are always tried together in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Both the housemate and our client entered pleas of not guilty, and the matter proceeded to trial. The client’s charge contained an error in the wording. This was not immediately obvious to the prosecution, as their primary focus was on prosecuting the principal offender who had killed the victim.
When it came time for closing arguments, defence Counsel made submissions to the Judge concerning the error. Upon being made aware of the error, the prosecution applied to amend the charge. The Judge denied this, and the charge was struck out.
Unfortunately, this did not prevent the Crown from re-listing the case. Following the jury’s finding of the principal offender guilty, the Crown indicated its intention to retry our client. Intensive negotiations followed. It was agreed that the client would plead guilty to the charge if the Crown would submit that a suspended sentence was within the sentencing range.
The Outcome
Upon entering a plea of guilty, His Honour imposed a gaol sentence of two and a half years wholly suspended for three years. The client avoided an immediate gaol sentence, which was a remarkable outcome.
