Guode – infanticide, mental impairment and sentencing

In Guode by a 3:2 majority, the High Court has allowed a Crown appeal from a VSCA decision with the the majority holding that that the VSCA erred in taking into account guilty plea to infanticide as a consideration in determining sentences for murder and attempted murder. CONTENT WARNING: Child homicide Factual and procedural background … Continue reading Guode – infanticide, mental impairment and sentencing →

Strbak – the right to silence in contested facts hearings on sentence

Yesterday, in Strbak the High Court allowed an appeal from the QCA, holding that adverse inferences should not be made where the offender declines to give sworn evidence in a contested facts hearing. In doing so, the Court overturned Miller, a QCA authority on this point. CONTENT WARNING: Child homicide Factual Background The Appellant and … Continue reading Strbak – the right to silence in contested facts hearings on sentence →