accessory after the fact s.71 Flashcards
Penalty
life = 7
10+ = 5
otherwise 1/2 the penalty to maximum of 5 years
discuss: Spouse partner
you cannot be held as an accessory for assisting your spouse (legal) or civil union partner or their co-offender.
Does not apply to defacto.
Does not apply if you assist the co-offender and not the spouse.
discuss the what the intent of an accessory must be
to escapee after arrest
to avoid arrest
to avoid conviction
R v CROOKS
knowledge means actual knowledge or belief in the sense of no real doubt that the person assisted was a party to the relevant offence.
mere suspicion of their involvement in the offence is insufficient.
what must an accessory know;
an offence has been committed
the person being assisted was a party to the offence.
At the time of assistance
R v BRIGGS
as with a receiving charge under 246(1) knowledge may also be inferred from willful blindness or a deliberate abstention from enquiries that would confirm the suspected truth.
R v MANE
R v MANE
to be considered an accessory the acts done by the person must be after the completion of the offence.
What needs to be proved
The person was a party to an offense
Received, comforted, assisted the party OR
Tampered with or actively suppressed evidence against them
In order to enable their escape after arrest OR enable them to avoid arrest OR avoid conviction.
Define the ingredient of “knowing a person to be a party to an offence”
Knowing:
the accused must have knowledge that the person they are assisting was a party to an offence at the time of assisting them.
SIMESTER and BROOKBANKS
Knowing means “knowing or correctly believing”, the belief must be correct, where a person believes something that is wrong they cannot know something.
R v CROOKS, knowledge means actual knowledge or belief in the sense of no real doubt that the person they were assisting was a party to a relevant offence.
R v BRIGGS
Knowledge can be inferred from wilfull blindness or a deliberate abstenation from conducting a course of enquiry that would confirm the suspected truth.
PERSON
Gender neutral proven by judicial notice or circumstantially.
PARTY s.66(1) CA61
A party to an offence is a person who;
a) does the offence (principal offencer) OR
b) does or omits an act to assist the commission of the offence, OR
c) abets any person to commit an offence, OR
d) Counsels, procures, incites a person to commit an offence.
OFFENCE
means any act or omission punishable by conviction by any statute demarcated into 4 categories.
A person charged with being an accessory after the fact is entitled to insist on proof of the principal crime and challenge evidence to it even though the primary offender has pled guilty.
Define element;
Receives, comforts, assists that person
RECEIVES/COMFORTS or ASSISTS
The accused does a deliberate act for the purpose of assisting the principal to evade justice.
The act must assist the person in some way
Define element;
Tampers with or actively suppresses evidence against him/her
TAMPERS WITH/ACTIVELY SUPPRESSES EVIDENCE
The accused does a deliberate act in relation to evidence against the person for the purpose to assisting them to evade justice.
The act must actually assist the person.
Define element;
To enable him/her to escape after arrest
R v MANE
To be considered an accessory the acts must be done by the person after the completion of the relevant offence.
ENABLE HIM/HER to ESCAPE
the act must specifically assist the person after they have been arrested.
Define element;
Enable him to avoid arrest or conviction
R v MANE
to be considered an accessory the acts done by the person must be after the completion of the offence
All acts done by the person must be with the specific intention that the person evades justice by either avoiding arrest or conviction.
