O'Dea v. The State of Western Australia

Lower Court Judgment

13/04/2021 Supreme Court of Western Australia (Court of Appeal) (Buss P, Mazza and Vaughan JJA)

[2021] WASCA 61

Catchwords

Criminal law – Joint liability – Acting in concert – Where appellant and co-accused stood trial on one count of doing grievous bodily harm with intent to do grievous bodily harm contrary to s 294(1) of the Criminal Code (WA) – Where appellant and co-accused alleged jointly criminally responsible – Where trial judge gave jury handout, relevantly describing circumstances in which two accused may be criminally responsible as "joint principals" under s 7(a) of Code – Where appellant was convicted but co-accused discharged with jury unable to reach verdict – Where Court of Appeal held criminal responsibility under s 7(a) of Code extended to cases where several persons are "acting in concert" – Whether appellant and co-accused can be criminally liable as joint principals in circumstances where the acts of co-accused were not proved unlawful – Whether trial judge was required to direct jury that "acting in concert" requires two accused to have reached an understanding or arrangement amounting to agreement to commit crime.