Posts by Manny Conditsis

Manny Conditsis on De Bellin – ABC Radio

Listen to Manny Conditsis, Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law, Senior Trial Advocate and Director at Conditsis Lawyers, share his thoughts on De Bellin.

Manny Conditsis on Coronavirus and the Law – 7 News, Sunrise

Watch Manny Conditsis, Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law, Senior Trial Advocate and Director at Conditsis Lawyers, share his thoughts on Christian Porter and how the popular opinion surrounding him contrasts with procedural fairness and justice.

Christian Porter | Populist Opinion v Procedural Fairness & Justice

  Popular Opinion Where there is smoke there is fire [2020 Four Corners Program as to recent and historical inappropriate behaviour of Christian Porter] as well as the more recent allegations of sexual assault dating back to 1988 [33 years ago]. Irrespective of Police confirmation of its own…

Criminalisation of coercive control

This is a hot topic at present and rightly so. There needs to be and should be significant community discussion and education to do the subject justice. Is coercive control a form of domestic violence or abuse and should it be criminalised? The overwhelming answer is Yes! It…

Do you have teenage children? You need to read this!

Did you know that it is a criminal offence to have consensual sex or any form of consensual sexual touching when one or both are under the age of 16 years? Example 1: the boy is 16 ½ and the girl is 15 ½ – it is a…

Hung Juries in Sexual Assault Trials

What does a hung Jury mean? In Australia, for an accused to either be found guilty or not guilty of a crime in a jury trial, the starting point is that the jury decision must be unanimous. However, after jury deliberations of about 8 hours or so, the…

Dean Waters Trial

In 1997, the public’s national attention focused on the firm as a result of a successful verdict given in the highly publicized “Dean Waters Case”. The accused, Dean Waters, was one of three brothers who were all famous boxers in their own right and who were trained by…

Strategies & Practical Considerations in Sexual Assault Matters

The reader is reminded that this paper is not intended to include detailed legal research, either as to the common law or legislation relating to sex matters. It is intended to provide the ‘basics” in some terminology and directions given by a trial judge; and to get the…

Under Age Consensual Sex – Should Either Party Be Charged?

 Background – Case Study – Client John Note: Psyuedonyms for all names   Initially, John was charged in relation to two complainants – Mary and Jane. At the time of the alleged offences, Mary was about 16 years and some months and Jane about 15 years and 9…

Self Defence in NSW

In New South Wales the law as to self-defence is essentially contained in Section 418 of the Crimes Act 1900 and there are various case authorities that interpret that section. Essentially, there are two (2) legs to making out a defence of self-defence and they are: The person…

Major Changes to NSW Sentencing Law

Proposed Legislation The Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Amendment (Sentencing Options) Act 2017 No 53 will make substantial amendments to the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 [“the Act”] and is scheduled to be proclaimed in about May 2018.  Gloss Overview  Abolition of Good Behaviour Bonds (s9) AND replacement with Conditional…

EAGP Reforms

The Amending Act [EAGP] passed Parliament on 18 October 2017 and the Department of Justice [“DoJ”] has advised it is expected that the EAGP reform will commence by May 2018. The Department of Justice [“DoJ”] has referred to the EAGP reforms as “a systemic shift in the way…

The Newcastle Herald: Behind Newcastle’s rising crime statistics

Opinion | What’s behind area’s rising crime statistics The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research disclosed last week that crime across most of NSW had remained stable or fallen over the past two years. The bad news, particularly for Newcastle, is that most major crimes are increasing in the…

New increased police powers unjustified and problematic

Recent changes to parole and shoot to kill laws and regulations introduced through amendments to terrorism legislation in New South Wales present some very real concerns to our priceless civil liberties under the repeated political populace mantra that this is necessary to make us “safer from terrorists that…

Involuntariness Case Study: Dean Waters

I appeared for Dean Waters as trial advocate, in my first murder trial [at Newcastle Supreme Court] in 1997 before his Honour RS Hulme J (as he then was), when after a 9 day trial, the jury took about 30 minutes to find the accused not guilty of…

Drugs In Sport: A discussion with the Coast FM Sports Panel

  Following a recent ACC (Australian Crime Commission) report on drugs in sport, Manny Conditsis joins the Coast FM Sports Panel to discuss wide-ranging questions around drugs in sport the impact they could have on players, sports scientists and clubs on a local, national and international level.

Man Charged with Murder and Maliciously Wounding

Trial Advocate – Manny Conditsis Man Charged with Murder and Maliciously Wound after wild brawl Numerous Co-Accused faced a 5 month trial in the Supreme Court and whilst they were acquitted of murder they were all found guilty of manslaughter and are serving lengthy sentences of imprisonment. Our…

Dazed Stranger Found in House with Drugs

Senior Trial Advocate: Manny Conditsis A bizarre case where our client was found dazed and confused in a stranger’s house, having a shower in the early hours of the morning. Can you imagine? Not surprisingly our client was asked to leave the premises and he did so. The…

Family Law Appeal Won

Manny Conditsis The firm took over a Family Law case after the man had appeared for himself at a hearing in front of a Judge of the Family Court, when the Judge made unfavourable orders against the man. An appeal was lodged on behalf of the man to…

Conspiracy to Import Methamphetamine

Senior Trial Advocate:  Manny Conditsis The Australian Federal Police (AFP) charged 5 co-accused with conspiring to import 40kg of methylamphetamine powder into Australia by ship from Europe. Manny Conditsis represented one of the accused, who was a 60 year old Port Botany wharf worker. Each of the other…

Gosford Criminal Advocate Receives Top Pro Bono Award

Senior Trial Advocate: Manny Conditsis Then President of the Law Society of NSW, Justin Dowd, congratulated Manny Conditsis as the recipient of the Law Society President’s Award which was announced as part of the 2012 Justice Awards. The Law Society President’s Award is presented to an individual solicitor…

Battered Spouse Murder Defence

Senior Trial Advocate: Manny Conditsis  A young woman was charged with the stabbing murder of her husband, although there was no real dispute that she had been a battered spouse at the hands of the deceased, since she started to live with him when she was aged 14, and…

Possession and Intended Manufacture of Drugs

Senior Trial Advocate:  Manny Conditsis Solicitor Assisting: Natasha Konic A very difficult 2-month trial won against all odds! A significant quantity of pseudoephedrine powder and precursors such as Hypophosphorous Acid was allegedly found on our client’s premises by police. Manny Conditsis and Natasha Konic spent many hours pouring…

Indecent Assault and Rape

Senior Trial Advocate: Manny Conditsis Solicitor Assisting: Natasha Konic An elderly man was charged with alleged sexual offences. Manny Conditsis persuaded the Jury that the complainant had ulterior motives in making the complaints. Manny Conditsis and Natasha Konic spent many hours pouring over loads of documents subpoenaed by…

Man Charged with the Rape of a Woman

Senior Trial Advocate: Manny Conditsis Solicitor Assisting: Natasha Konic A man was charged with the rape of a woman. The man said that the sex was consensual. After Manny Conditsis’ cross examination of the woman, he persuaded the Judge to invite the Jury to acquit our client without…

Wild Gang Brawl Leads to Killing

Senior Trial Advocate: Manny Conditsis Solicitor Assisting: Natasha Konic A man was charged with the malicious wounding of another man causing him grievous bodily harm. If the man had been convicted he would have gone to jail for a long time. The man was found on the victim’s…

Consensual Sex Between Minors – A Criminal Offence?

What a lot of parents don’t realise, particularly parents with teenage children, is the concern where two young people, and I mean under the age of 16 years… they might go to school together for example… meet, have a relationship, have sex. Do you realise that one or…

How Does Bail Work?

The topic of bail frequently comes up in conversations. But what people don’t realise is that there have been three changes to the bail laws in the past 18 months or so. And they have been fairly significant. Having said that, as simple as one can state at…