Francis Tarei v The State (2008) N3539

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Date: 11 December 2008
• Citation: (2008) N3539
• Docket Number: CA NO 4 0F 2008
• Court: National Court
• Year: 2008

Full Title: CA NO 4 0F 2008; Francis Tarei v The State (2008) N3539

National Court: Cannings J

Judgment Delivered: 11 December 2008

APPEAL

CRIMINAL LAW – dangerous driving causing death – appeal against conviction in District Court.

The appellant was convicted by the District Court of an offence under Criminal Code, s328, of dangerous driving causing death. He appealed against his conviction on four grounds:

(1) the State witnesses gave contradictory evidence, which the magistrate failed to sufficiently take into account;

(2) procedural unfairness arising from the State being permitted to introduce two witnesses without sufficient notice being given to the defence;

(3) the magistrate erred by rejecting for insufficient reasons the evidence of two passengers in the vehicle driven by the appellant;

(4) the magistrate erred by ordering the trial to proceed in the absence at a critical time of the defence counsel.

Held:

(1) There were no material inconsistencies in the evidence of the main State witnesses. The District Court did not err in its assessment of their evidence.

(2) The complaint that two State witnesses were introduced without sufficient notice being given to the defence was vague and poorly articulated. There is no reasonable inference of procedural unfairness arising from an examination of the District Court record.

(3) There was good reason for the magistrate to reject or at least give little weight to the written statements of the two passengers: they were friends of the appellant and more importantly they did not give oral evidence at the trial.

(4) The complaint that the magistrate erred by ordering the trial to proceed in the absence at a critical time of the defence counsel was vague and poorly articulated. There is no reasonable inference of procedural unfairness arising from an examination of the District Court record.

(5) All grounds of the appeal were dismissed. The National Court was not satisfied that there has been any miscarriage of justice. The appeal was accordingly dismissed.

Cases cited

The following case is cited in the judgment:

John Beng v The State [1977] PNGLR 115

Abbreviations

The following abbreviations appear in the judgment:

CA – Criminal Appeal

J – Justice

N – National Court judgment

NBPOL – New Britain Palm Oil Limited

No – number

PNGLR – Papua New Guinea Law Reports

v – versus

APPEAL

This was an appeal from a decision of the District Court finding the appellant guilty of a criminal offence.

1. CANNINGS J: This is an appeal against a decision of the Kimbe District Court, constituted by Principal Magistrate, Mr Luke Vava, finding the appellant, Francis Tarei, guilty of the offence of dangerous driving causing death. Mr Tarei was sentenced to two years imprisonment. His appeal is only against his conviction, not the sentence.

THE DISTRICT COURT TRIAL

2. The appellant was found guilty of driving a Toyota Landcruiser dangerously in the early hours of...