Lawson v The State of Western Australia

JURISDICTION     :   SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
TITLE OF COURT :   THE COURT OF APPEAL (WA)
CITATION:   LAWSON -v- THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA [2019] WASCA 94
CORAM:   BUSS P
BEECH JA

HEARD:   19 JUNE 2019
DELIVERED          :   19 JUNE 2019
PUBLISHED           :   2 JULY 2019
FILE NO/S:   CACR 21 of 2019
BETWEEN:   SHAUN PHILLIP LAWSON
Appellant

AND

THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Respondent

ON APPEAL FROM:
Jurisdiction              :   SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Coram:   MAZZA JA
File Number            :   CACR 21 of 2019

Catchwords:

Criminal law - Appeal - Procedure - Application for review of decision of single judge of appeal - Turns on own facts

Legislation:

Nil

Result:

Application for review dismissed

Category: B

Representation:

Counsel:

Appellant	:	In person
Respondent	:	No appearance

Solicitors:

Appellant	:	Not applicable
Respondent	:	Director of Public Prosecutions (WA)

Case(s) referred to in decision(s):

Lawson v The State of Western Australia [No 2] [2018] WASCA 204
Lawson v The State of Western Australia [No 3] [2018] WASCA 129

REASONS OF THE COURT:

(This judgment was delivered extemporaneously on 19 June 2019 and has been edited from the transcript.)

The appellant seeks the review of the decision by Mazza JA made 4 April 2019 to refuse his application filed 2 April 2019 and dated 29 March 2019 to have charge PE 97543/2014 dealt with 'individually and without judgment or prejudice of the other 33 charges'.
In order to understand the appellant's application, it is necessary to provide some context.
On 25 November 2015, the appellant pleaded guilty to and was convicted of an offence of armed robbery.
On 28 January 2016, the appellant pleaded guilty to and was convicted of 33 summary charges pursuant to a notice under s 32 of the Sentencing Act 1995 (WA). The charged offences included dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm, aggravated reckless driving, careless driving, possession of prohibited drugs, fraudulently altering a prescription, giving false details to police, stealing, fraud, criminal damage, stealing a motor vehicle, trespass, breach of bail and various other traffic offences.
The appellant has previously appealed his sentence[1] and his conviction on the armed robbery offence.[2]
[1] Lawson v The State of Western Australia [No 3] [2018] WASCA 129.
[2] Lawson v The State of Western Australia [No 2] [2018] WASCA 204.
In this appeal, commenced on 13 February 2019, the appellant seeks an extension of time to appeal and leave to appeal against his conviction on the charge of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm; that is charge PE 97543/2014, the subject of the application.
On 2 April 2019, the appellant filed an application in this appeal in the terms set out in [1] above. By order of 4 April 2019, Mazza JA dismissed the application.
In circumstances where the entire subject matter of this appeal is the conviction on the charge of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm, there is no need, or justification, for an order to the effect sought by the appellant in this application. The appellant's appeal (in particular, his application for an extension of time and his application for leave to appeal against his conviction on the charge of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm) will be determined on its merits. Whether the appellant's plea of guilty to and conviction for the dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm offence gave rise to a miscarriage of justice is to be evaluated in light of all the circumstances in which the plea was entered. Part of those circumstances is that the plea was entered after the plea to the charge of armed robbery and at the same time as the pleas to the other summary offences the subject of the s 32 notice. However, the substance and details of those other offences, which occurred separately from and earlier than the dangerous driving offence, do not bear on the merits of the present appeal.
Mazza JA's decision was correct.
For these reasons, we would dismiss the appellant's application for review of the decision of Mazza JA made on 4 April 2019.

I certify that the preceding paragraph(s) comprise the reasons for decision of the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
SL
Research Associate/Orderly to the Honourable Justice Beech
2 JULY 2019

The appeal, Lawson v The State of Western Australia, involves the applicant seeking review of a decision made by a single judge of the Court of Appeal. The applicant, Lawson, is appealing against the decision of the State of Western Australia regarding a criminal matter. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

The central legal issues in this case revolve around the procedure for appealing a decision made by a single judge of the Court of Appeal and the scope of review available to the applicant. The applicant argued that the single judge had erred in their interpretation of the law or in their application of the relevant legal principles, and sought a review of the decision on these grounds.

The court considered the applicant's arguments and the relevant legal principles. It held that the single judge's decision was correct and that there was no basis for a review of the decision. The court found that the applicant's arguments did not establish any error on the part of the single judge and that the decision was properly made. As such, the application for review was dismissed.

The Supreme Court of Western Australia dismissed the application for review of the decision of the single judge of the Court of Appeal. The court found that the single judge had correctly interpreted and applied the law, and that there was no basis for a review of the decision. The applicant's appeal was therefore unsuccessful.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established