Strbak v The Queen

Criminal law – Sentence – Manslaughter – Where appellant pleaded guilty to manslaughter – Where hearing held to determine factual basis upon which appellant to be sentenced – Where acts comprising offence disputed – Where appellant failed to give evidence at sentencing hearing – Whether sentencing judge applied R v Miller [2004] 1 Qd R 548 – Whether sentencing judge drew adverse inferences from appellant's silence in making factual findings – Whether R v Miller [2004] 1 Qd R 548 wrongly decided – Whether sentencing judge permitted to more readily draw inferences adverse to appellant.

Words and phrases – "absence of contradictory evidence", "accusatorial proceeding", "adverse inference", "balance of probabilities", "beyond reasonable doubt", "burden of proof", "civil standard", "contested facts", "contradictory out of court statements", "criminal standard", "fact-finding", "failure to give evidence", "Jones v Dunkel inference", "plea of guilty", "presumption of innocence", "rare and exceptional circumstances", "right to silence", "sentencing hearing", "standard of proof".

Evidence Act 1977 (Qld) – s 132C.