Lawyer X: Zlate Cvetanovski freed on bail because of Nicola Gobbo - NEWS.com.au

Zlate Cvetanovski, one of Tony Mokbel’s drug traffickers, has been granted bail pending an appeal against three convictions in what will be seen as another blow for disgraced lawyer Nicola Gobbo.

Cvetanovski will walk from Loddon Prison today having served nine years of an 11-year sentence after claiming his convictions were tainted by Ms Gobbo’s informing.

It follows comments last week by Victoria’s chief crown prosecutor that the case against Cvetanovski would almost certainly have failed had Ms Gobbo — also known as Lawyer X — not encouraged a key witness to give evidence against him.

His lawyer Julie Condon QC said: “The case quite clearly stood or fell on the word of (that person) and that underscores the significance of the lack of disclosure.”

Cvetanovski applied for bail and today had his bail granted with a $400,000 surety and several conditions. The hearing lasted less than 10 minutes.

Court of Appeal Justices Chris Maxwell, David Beach and Mark Weinberg found Cvetanovski had “established exceptional circumstances justifying a grant of bail”.

“The applicant submits that he has reasonable prospects of success on the conviction appeal,” the three justices wrote in their judgment.

“The respondent, for her part, contends that there is no substance in any of the grounds of the appeal. It is sufficient for present purposes to say that we regard the grounds of appeal as reasonably arguable.

“That suffices to establish a real risk of injustice of the kind to which we have referred. It is not, in any event, possible to form a more definitive view at present, given the complexity and novelty of the issues raised and the scale and nature of the documentation to be examined.

“It seems not to be in dispute that, had the applicant been aware of Ms Gobbo’s activities at the time of his trial, he would have had available to him powerful additional materials for use in challenging both the admissibility and the veracity of the evidence of the principal witness against him.”

Cvetanovski was found guilty of drug trafficking in April 2012 and sentenced to 10 years in jail. He had another year added on for dishonesty charges.

A number of other appeals are under way after the scale of Ms Gobbo’s informing was revealed. Among convicted criminals appealing their convictions are Tony Mokbel, Rob Karam and Jan Visser.

Faruk Orman, who was jailed for murder during Victoria’s gangland war, walked free last July after his conviction was overturned because of Ms Gobbo’s informing.

Orman was jailed for 12 years over the slaying of fellow underworld figure Victor Peirce.

rohan.smith1@news.com.au | @ro_smith

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiqQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC92aWN0b3JpYS9jb3VydHMtbGF3L2dhbmdsYW5kLWZpZ3VyZS16bGF0ZS1jdmV0YW5vdnNraS1mcmVlZC1vbi1iYWlsLWFmdGVyLXNlcnZpbmctbmluZS15ZWFycy9uZXdzLXN0b3J5LzBjYzljNjM2OTVhOTdmYjNlOGZkYmI1YzZjMGE0YjRk0gGpAWh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLm5ld3MuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3ZpY3RvcmlhL2NvdXJ0cy1sYXcvZ2FuZ2xhbmQtZmlndXJlLXpsYXRlLWN2ZXRhbm92c2tpLWZyZWVkLW9uLWJhaWwtYWZ0ZXItc2VydmluZy1uaW5lLXllYXJzL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvMGNjOWM2MzY5NWE5N2ZiM2U4ZmRiYjVjNmMwYTRiNGQ?oc=5

2020-05-19 00:29:02Z
CBMiqQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC92aWN0b3JpYS9jb3VydHMtbGF3L2dhbmdsYW5kLWZpZ3VyZS16bGF0ZS1jdmV0YW5vdnNraS1mcmVlZC1vbi1iYWlsLWFmdGVyLXNlcnZpbmctbmluZS15ZWFycy9uZXdzLXN0b3J5LzBjYzljNjM2OTVhOTdmYjNlOGZkYmI1YzZjMGE0YjRk0gGpAWh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLm5ld3MuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3ZpY3RvcmlhL2NvdXJ0cy1sYXcvZ2FuZ2xhbmQtZmlndXJlLXpsYXRlLWN2ZXRhbm92c2tpLWZyZWVkLW9uLWJhaWwtYWZ0ZXItc2VydmluZy1uaW5lLXllYXJzL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvMGNjOWM2MzY5NWE5N2ZiM2U4ZmRiYjVjNmMwYTRiNGQ

Bagikan Berita Ini