In short:
A lawyer for rapist celebrity agent Ralph Carr has asked the court to halt sentencing of his client, likening the case to that of the last man to be hanged in Australia.
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lawyer → ask → Australia
Prosecutors described the application as an inappropriate attempt to attract media attention.
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Prosecutors → describe → attention
The pre-sentence hearing continues tomorrow.
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hearing → continue → ?
Prosecutors say the County Court should get on with sentencing rapist celebrity agent Ralph Carr, after his defence team made a rare legal move to halt the case.
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team → say → case
Last month, a jury found Carr guilty of raping a woman at his West Melbourne home three years ago, an allegation he denied.
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he → find → home
A longstanding suppression order was also lifted, identifying Carr.
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order → lift → Carr
The complainant was the key witness in the case, and gave evidence in front of the jury for at least five days.
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complainant → give → days
Today, defence barrister Dermot Dann KC argued that the judge, Frank Gucciardo, should postpone plans to sentence Carr next week.
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judge → argue → Carr
The legal move, known as a "stay", would open the door for Carr to apply for bail ahead of a legal challenge in the Court of Appeal.
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Carr → know → Appeal
Mr Dann said it was the first time in 35 years he had made such an application, and described the jury verdict as "the most obvious miscarriage of justice I've ever seen".
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I → say → justice
"Anyone who was in court who saw and heard the complainant give evidence in this trial should be very, very concerned; very, very uncomfortable about the guilty verdicts," he said.
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he → see → verdicts
Mr Dann said anyone who was comfortable with the verdicts had "lost sight of what justice is".
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justice → say → sight
However, prosecutor Matthew Fisher accused Mr Dann of making a "political" and "emotional" speech that was inappropriate and questioned whether it was designed to attract media attention.
Mr Fisher said the jury was aware of "issues" with some aspects of the complainant's evidence, but still decided beyond reasonable doubt that she was raped by Carr.
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she → accuse → Carr
"Your honour should not entertain the stay application," he said.
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he → entertain → application
In calling for a stay of sentence, Mr Dann referenced the cases of Robert Tait and Ronald Ryan, two men sentenced to hanging in Victoria in the 60s.
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Dann → call → 60s
Tait's death sentence was eventually stayed, but Ryan's was not, making him the final man to be hanged in Australia.
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him → stay → Australia
Judge Gucciardo told Mr Dann his client was not the first person found guilty to proclaim their innocence and said it was not his task to re-assess the evidence considered by the jury.
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it → tell → jury
"What we had was a very conscientious jury who listened to the evidence, who listened to your very complete and, may I say, exceptional cross-examination of the complainant," the judge said.
"
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judge → listen → complainant
In scenes that resembled a mock appeal, Mr Dann outlined 16 pieces of evidence the defence was challenging, pointing to alleged inconsistencies with the woman's account of the night in question and other events.
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defence → resemble → question
Carr began crying in the court dock as Mr Dann described his mental health issues and history of suicide attempts.
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Dann → begin → attempts
Yesterday, he said Carr was in "a living hell" while in an isolated prison cell for 23 hours a day.
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Carr → say → hours
However, Mr Fisher, for the prosecution, said the court should be "circumspect" when considering evidence from Carr's psychiatrist about his mental health.
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court → say → health
"There's a great deal of speculation about how things might eventuate if the accused man remains in custody for a significant period of time," he said.
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he → be → time
Prosecutors are expected to address the judge further about the nature of Carr's offending and the impact on the victim tomorrow.
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Prosecutors → expect → victim
If the judge refuses Carr's stay application, he is likely to be sentenced next Thursday.
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he → refuse → application
He could spend months in jail until the case is brought before Victoria's Court of Appeal.
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case → spend → Appeal
The Aporia