Citation: R v Songcuan [2022] NSWSC 1796
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 8 November 2022
Judge: Campbell J
Background
The accused was standing trial before an expanded jury of fourteen members. During the course of the trial, one juror became unwell overnight and was unable to attend court.
The court received information, relayed through a court officer, that a close relative of the affected juror had reported the juror was unlikely to be fit to continue jury service in the near future. No formal medical evidence was placed before the court.
The short ruling was delivered extempore (that is, given orally from the bench without prior written preparation) and later revised for the record.
Legal Issues
- Whether one juror should be discharged on health grounds in the absence of formal medical evidence
- Whether the remaining jury should also be discharged following the removal of that juror
Decision
Campbell J was satisfied that the information received from the juror's close relative, communicated via the court officer, was credible and reliable. On that basis, the judge was prepared to act without formal medical evidence and ordered the discharge of the affected juror, identified in proceedings as Juror G, for reasons of ill-health.
The judge then turned to whether the entire jury should be discharged as a consequence. Having discussed the question briefly with counsel, Campbell J concluded there was no basis for doing so. The juror had been discharged purely for health reasons, and the nature of the condition meant it was unlikely to affect any other member of the jury.
The judge found there was no possibility of a miscarriage of justice arising from continuing the trial with thirteen jurors rather than fourteen. Accordingly, the trial proceeded with the expanded jury reduced to thirteen.
Orders Made
- Juror G discharged for reasons of ill-health.
- Trial to continue with the remaining expanded jury of thirteen.
Key Takeaways
- The Supreme Court accepted that credible secondhand information relayed by a court officer from a juror's close relative can be sufficient to ground a discharge for ill-health, even without formal medical evidence.
- Where a trial commences with an expanded jury, the discharge of one juror for health reasons does not automatically require the discharge of the entire panel.
- A miscarriage of justice will not arise simply from proceeding with a reduced expanded jury, provided the reduction is attributable solely to health grounds and the remaining jurors are unaffected.
- The court's discretion to discharge an individual juror is exercised in light of all available circumstances, including the nature of the illness and the likely duration of the trial.
- No error or unfairness was identified in continuing proceedings with thirteen rather than the original fourteen jurors.
Legislation and Cases Referenced
Legislation: None cited in the judgment text or metadata.
Cases: None cited in the judgment text or metadata.