Appeal from conviction on drug trafficking charges. 11(b) issue. Trial judge declined to grant a stay. Issue as to whether time taken for reserved judgments should count towards the presumptive ceiling for delay under the Jordan / Cody framework.
Held: Appeal dismissed; no 11(b) breach.
Question left open as to whether time for trial judge to compose reasons falls within the delay calculation. Watson JA held that generally, time taken for reserve judgments forms part of the period of delay. However, the complexity of evidence justified removing the time as an exceptional circumstance in this case. Slatter JA disagreed: “time consumed by the need from time to time for the trial judge to reserve his decision should…be excluded from the ‘delay’ calculation”. Crighton JA found it unnecessary to address that issue.
- Bates – Defence Counsel