Arabic version: كار يسعى إلى وقف إجراءات النطق بالحكم

According to ABC News, prosecutors have urged Victoria’s County Court to continue toward sentencing celebrity agent Ralph Carr after his defence sought a stay of the case. A jury last month found Carr guilty of raping a woman at his West Melbourne home three years earlier, an allegation he denied.

Defence barrister Dermot Dann KC asked Judge Frank Gucciardo to postpone sentencing, which had been planned for next week. A stay could allow Carr to seek bail before mounting a Court of Appeal challenge. Dann said the verdicts were a miscarriage of justice and told the court it was the first such application he had made in 35 years.

Dann compared the application with the cases of Robert Tait and Ronald Ryan, who were sentenced to hang in Victoria in the 1960s. Tait’s death sentence was stayed, while Ryan’s was not; Ryan became the last man hanged in Australia. Dann also outlined 16 pieces of evidence the defence is challenging, including alleged inconsistencies in the woman’s account.

Prosecutor Matthew Fisher described the submission as an inappropriate political and emotional speech, questioning whether it was intended to attract media attention. He said the jury knew of issues in parts of the complainant’s evidence but nevertheless found beyond reasonable doubt that Carr raped her. Judge Gucciardo said it was not his role to reassess the evidence and described the jury process as conscientious. The pre-sentence hearing continues tomorrow, when prosecutors are expected to address the offending and its impact on the victim. If the stay is refused, Carr is likely to be sentenced next Thursday.