• Crimes/Family Violence/Interv. Orders
• Criminal Law
• Magistrates Court – Crime

Areas of Practice

Paul practises exclusively in Criminal Law.

Experience

Completed the Victorian Bar Readers Course in November 2001.

He is primarily a Criminal Trial advocate having appeared:

• In excess of 100 jury trials to verdict.
• Hundreds of contested committals.

He has appeared, for many years, in matters in the following areas:

• Homicide
• Sexual Assault
• Rape
• Armed Robbery
• Serious Assaults
• Culpable Driving and Dangerous Driving causing Death
• Large Commercial Quantity Drug Trafficking / Cultivation
• Fraud / Deceptions
• Attempting to pervert the course of justice
• Misconduct in public office
• Conspiracy
• Family violence
• Crimes (Mental Impairment & Unfitness to be tried) Act 1997
• Serious Sex Offenders (Detention and Supervision) Act 2009

Written and Oral Submissions

He has substantial experience in making submissions, both written and orally in court, on the application of legislation and case law in areas such as:

• Tendency evidence
• Coincidence evidence
• Hearsay evidence
• Unfavourable / Hostile witnesses
• Voir dires
• Unfairly, improperly and illegally obtained evidence – particularly arguments seeking exclusion of confessions/admissions
• Separate trial arguments
• Severance arguments
• Abuse of process arguments
• Expert opinion evidence – including DNA, fingerprints, ballistics
• Character evidence
• Covert operative evidence – including issues of Public Interest Immunity
• Sentencing
• Subpoena issues
• Obtaining Confidential Communications materials in sexual offending matters – (Section 32C of the Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1958

Appellate

Many appeals from the Magistrates’ Court to the County Court – Both sentence and conviction appeals.

He has appeared in the Victorian Supreme Court (Court of Appeal) as prosecuting counsel and as defence counsel.  A significant case in recent times being one involving trafficking in large commercial quantities of drugs in a multi-offender interlocutory appeal.  See:

• Yates (a Pseudonym) v The Queen [2017] VSCA 188 (20 July 2017)  http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VSCA/2017/188.html

Briefs to appear

He accepts briefs to appear in:

• Criminal Trials (including appearance at Directions and Mention Hearings)
• Committal Mentions (including Form 32 drafting)
• Contested Committals
• Summary Contests
• Bail Applications
• Intervention Orders.

Briefs to advise

He accepts briefs to advise on all aspects of criminal law, procedure and evidence.

Circuit appearances

He accepts briefs to appear on circuit in Ballarat and Geelong.

Accreditations

• He has been selected as a member of the Victoria Legal Aid Criminal Trial Preferred Barrister List.
• He holds an Indictable Crime Certificate.

Committees

He is a former member of Svenson Barristers List Committee.

Recent seminars/lectures/training

He has most recently presented to solicitors on

• Disclosure in criminal matters, and
• How to effectively prepare the paperwork through the process of Committal Mentions and Contested Committal hearings.

He has assisted the Victorian Bar Readers course as a moot magistrate adjudicating in criminal law moots between Bar Readers and Police Prosecutors.