Drugs Flashcards
What is the case law of Phillapetti?
Accused was charged with the (deem) supply of Indian hemp. Police attended the residence that was owned by the father of the accused. The Indian hemp was located in a chair in the loungeroom. The residence consisted of three bedrooms and five other persons resided in the house.
HELD
There was insufficient evidence to exclude the possibility that the Indian hemp was in possession of one of the other occupants of the premises.
There was insufficient evidence to conclude BRD that the Indian hem was in the exclusive control of the accused.
What is the case law of He Kaw Teh?
He Kaw Teh v The Queen
possession connotes knowledge in the existence of the thing possessed. In charges involving ‘possession’ of drugs, the prosecution bears the onus of proving that the accused knew of the existence of the goods which were in a suitcase or other container over which he had exclusive physical control…
the jury should have been told that they could not find that the applicant had heroin in his possession unless they were satisfied that he knew it was in the suitcase…
if the suspicions of an incoming traveler are aroused, and he deliberately refrains from making inquiries for fear that he may learn the truth, his willful blindness may be treated as equivalent to knowledge.
What are the proofs of possessiong drug administering equipment?
s 11 - Possession of equipment for admin – Have to prove intention for future use
What are the proofs of a drug possession?
Possession = Knowledge & Control
What is the case of Carey?
Carey NSWCCA 26 July 1990 (unrep)
Police found fifteen small paper packages, containing trafficable amounts of a drug, on a chest beside the appellant’s bed.
The appellant told Police that her sister had left them at her house and would collect them the next day.
The appellant said that her intention was to flush them down the lavatory if her sister did not collect them the next day as promised. Her defence was that her possession was with the intention of returning them to her sister.
HELD:
There are various dictionary definitions of the word supply.
They do not suggest that the use of the word is appropriate when that something is merely returned to its owner or the person reasonably believed to be its owner.”
What is momentary possession? What are the two case laws for this?
Momentary physical control over a drug for the purpose of concealment can constitute possession in law
R v Todd (1977) 6 A Crim R 105 (Qld) (Drugs on the kitchen table)
R v Thomas (1981) 6 A Crim R 66 (Budda sticks over the veranda)
What is forgotten possession? What is the case law for this?
R v Martindale (1980) 3 All ER 25 “In the judgement of this court this argument is fallacious … Here the applicant himself put the cannabis in his wallet knowing what it was and put the wallet into his pocket. In our judgement ….even though his memory of the presence of the drug had faded or disappeared altogether, possession does not depend on the alleged possessor’s powers of memory, nor does possession come and go as memory revives or fails.”
What is the case law of Pereira?
Pereira v Public Prosecutions (1988) 63 ALJR 1
It is never the case that something less than knowledge may be treated as satisfying a requirement of actual knowledge.
Secondly, the question is that of the knowledge of the accused and not that which might be postulated of a hypothetical person in the position of the accused, although, of course, that may not be an irrelevant consideration.
Finally, where knowledge is inferred from the circumstances surrounding the commission of the alleged offence, knowledge must be the only rational inference available.
