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Supreme Court 4 March 2024

R v Dawson

[2024] NSWSC 260

Homicide
CRIME JUDGE ALONE TRIAL ACCUSED CHARGED WITH MURDER INQUIRY HELD ACCUSED FIT TO BE TRIED.

Citation: R v Dawson [2024] NSWSC 260
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 4 March 2024
Judge: R A Hulme AJ

Background

The accused was being tried alongside a co-accused for the alleged murder of a man at Doonside on 4 August 2021. The trial was conducted without a jury, each accused having elected trial by judge alone. The accused's defence rested on two planks: that the Crown could not prove her guilt beyond reasonable doubt on any of the bases of liability alleged, and that even if the essential elements of murder were established, a partial defence of substantial impairment by cognitive impairment should reduce the verdict to manslaughter.

On the ninth day of trial, defence counsel informed the court that the accused wished to enter a guilty plea. When asked for the basis of that plea, counsel was candid: the accused could not articulate any criminal liability reason for pleading guilty and had said only that she did not want to continue participating in the trial and wanted it to be over.

Prior expert evidence from a clinical neuropsychologist, tendered during earlier pretrial proceedings, had assessed the accused as having a mild intellectual disability placing her in the bottom one percentile of the population for overall intellectual capacity. That background, combined with the stated reason for the plea, prompted the court to question whether the proposal was rational and in the accused's interests.

  • Whether the proposed guilty plea was rationally based and in the interests of the accused, such that it should be accepted by the court
  • Whether a question had arisen as to the accused's fitness to be tried under Part 4 of the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020 (NSW)
  • Whether, following a mandatory fitness inquiry, the accused was fit to be tried

Decision

The court declined to accept the proposed guilty plea. Relying on the Court of Criminal Appeal's observations in White v R [2022] NSWCCA 241, the court noted that a plea of guilty should only be acted upon where it is entered in the interests of the person pleading. Where the stated reason for a plea is not rational or fully informed, particularly where questions of intellectual capacity are already in play, there is a real question whether that standard is met. The sole reason given here, that the accused simply wanted the proceedings to end, did not satisfy the court that the proposal was rational or in her interests.

Finding that a question had arisen as to fitness, the court suspended the trial and convened a mandatory inquiry under s 42(1)(b) of the Act. The inquiry was conducted in accordance with s 44, with the sole evidence being the oral testimony of Dr Adam Martin, a forensic psychiatrist who had also examined the accused in connection with the substantial impairment defence.

Dr Martin addressed each of the fitness criteria in s 36(1) of the Act. He found the accused had more than adequate understanding of the offence, understood the difference between guilty and not guilty pleas, could articulate rational reasons for her proposed plea, and was aware of potential sentences and the possibility of a manslaughter verdict. He noted that while her reasons for considering a guilty plea were not necessarily well-advised, they were rational and she was able to communicate them. Dr Martin concluded the accused was fit to be tried.

The court, satisfied on the balance of probabilities, found the accused fit to be tried and ordered the trial to continue under the usual procedures pursuant to s 46 of the Act.

Orders Made

  • The accused was found fit to be tried on the balance of probabilities.
  • The trial was ordered to continue in accordance with the usual procedures under s 46 of the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020 (NSW).

Key Takeaways

  • A court may decline to accept a guilty plea where the sole reason offered for it is that the accused wants the proceedings to end, and no rational basis in criminal liability is articulated.
  • Under the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020 (NSW), a question about fitness to be tried can arise mid-trial, including where a proposed plea appears not to be rationally based or in the accused's interests.
  • The Supreme Court confirmed that the White v R principle, that a plea must be entered in the interests of the person pleading, applies beyond withdrawal applications and informs whether a court should accept a proposed plea in the first place.
  • A finding that an accused has a mild intellectual disability does not automatically render them unfit to be tried. The fitness inquiry here turned on whether the accused could understand and communicate about the proceedings and her options.
  • Reasons for a guilty plea need not be sensible or well-advised to satisfy the fitness criteria; Dr Martin's evidence established that rationality and communicability, not wisdom, are the relevant benchmarks under s 36(1) of the Act.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation
- Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020 (NSW), ss 36(1), 42(1)(b), 44, 46 and Pt 4

Cases
- R v Sione; R v Dawson [2023] NSWSC 1594
- White v R [2022] NSWCCA 241
- Meissner v The Queen (1995) 184 CLR 132; [1995] HCA 41 (cited within White v R)