Baini v. The Queen

Lower Court Judgment

5/10/2011 Supreme Court of Victoria (Court of Appeal) (Warren CJ, Nettle JA, Ashley J)

[2011] VSCA 298

Catchwords

Criminal law — Appeal — Application of 'proviso' — Criminal charges improperly joined — Blackmail — Applicant convicted of 35 counts of blackmail — Most counts referable to one complainant — Trial judge refused applicant's application to sever a single count ('count 50') relating to a second complainant pursuant to ss 371 and 372 of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) — Prejudice to applicant — Court of Appeal ordered retrial with respect to count 50 only, but not the other 49 counts — Whether the Court of Appeal erred, having determined that the trial judge was in error regarding non-severance of count 50, by failing to order a retrial on the other counts — Whether the Court of Appeal erred in deciding that there was a substantial miscarriage of justice by adopting the approach dictated in Weiss v The Queen (2005) 224 CLR 300 and thereby failing to properly apply s 276 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic).

Short Particulars