by AAP
The criminal case is back on against a Lyndhurst-based trucking boss charged over the horror Eastern Freeway crash that killed four police, after a successful appeal by prosecutors.
Simiona Tuteru was charged with manslaughter over the deaths of the officers in April 2020.
It was alleged he, as the manager of Connect Logistics, allowed Cranbourne truck driver Mohinder Singh to get behind the wheel while fatigued and under the influence of drugs on the day he ploughed into the officers.
The manslaughter charges were dropped in October, six days before he was due to stand trial, in favour of proceeding with heavy vehicle offences.
Four charges were then reduced to two, and then a single charge in February this year.
Justice Lex Lasry decided to permanently stay the case against Tuteru in June, claiming court processes had been used oppressively and unfairly by Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd.
The judge criticised then-prosecutor Robyn Harper, on behalf of Ms Judd, for not explaining their decision.
He suggested it was simply because “the Crown finally realised it didn’t have a case”, which Ms Harper rejected.
Justice Lasry’s ruling was overturned by three Court of Appeal justices on Thursday.
They found there was no proper basis upon which Justice Lasry could have concluded that allowing the prosecution to continue would amount to an abuse of process or bring the administration of justice into disrepute.
The judges also noted the attribution of bad faith or ineptitude to the prosecution, without evidence, was unreasonable and plainly unjust.
“The conduct of the prosecution in this matter may have been suboptimal and inefficient, but it was far from oppressive,” they said.
It did not warrant Justice Lasry’s inclusion of “highly emotive language” used by Tuteru’s defence lawyers in their submissions in his ruling, particularly given the points were no longer accurate at the time of his decision.
The judges said there was no doubt there ha d been alterations to the prosecution case against Tuteru, but the question was whether those alterations were fundamental.
Refinement and reconsideration of a criminal case is commonplace and sound, they said.
The judges found nothing in the conduct of the prosecution or the legal landscape rendered Tuteru’s case an extreme or exceptional one, where the trial judge could do nothing to relieve against unfair consequences.
Lawyers for both sides were not in court for the ruling.
A spokesman for the Office of Public Prosecutions confirmed the single charge remains before the courts and the effect of the court’s decision means that can proceed.
Singh was jailed in 2021 for up to 22 years after admitting culpable driving causing the deaths of Senior Constables Lynette Taylor and Kevin King, and Constables Glen Humphris and Josh Prestney.
That was reduced on appeal to 18-and-a-half years, with a minimum of 14-and-a-half years.
