香港特別行政區 訴 高家興
Read the full judgment text of CACC 355/2008 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 3 June 2009 before 張澤祐, 湯寶臣.
Criminal law – dangerous drugs – trafficking – sentencing – cocaine – ketamine – multiple dangerous drugs – application for leave to appeal against sentence – whether sentencing judge erred in adopting the 'individual method' rather than the 'comprehensive method' for trafficking multiple types of dangerous drugs – whether the overall sentencing benchmark of 87 months was manifestly excessive – applicant pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking dangerous drugs (19.13g of cocaine and 39.52g of ketamine) – police stopped applicant outside his Sai Ying Pun residence, recovered key, executed search warrant, found drugs in his underwear and on his bed – sentencing judge adopted 68 months benchmark for 19.13g cocaine and 27 months benchmark for 39.52g ketamine, then set overall benchmark at 87 months (adjusting upward from 68 months rather than mechanically summing to 95 months) and applied one-third discount for guilty plea, yielding final sentence of 58 months – Court of Appeal identified two methods of sentencing for trafficking multiple dangerous drugs: 'individual method' (summing the benchmarks for each drug) and 'comprehensive method' (using the more serious drug as the base and adjusting for the other) – choice of method is a matter of judicial discretion, with the overall proportionality of the sentence being the key consideration – the two types of drugs were individually packaged, not mixed 'cocktail drugs', so the 'individual method' was appropriate – the judge properly considered the principles in HKSAR v Chan Ho Wai and the toxicity and quantity of each drug, and avoided the absurd result warned of in Yip Wai Yin by adjusting upward from the 68-month cocaine benchmark to 87 months rather than mechanically summing to 95 months – given the substantial quantities of both drugs, 87 months was not manifestly excessive – application for leave to appeal against sentence refused
Legal issues: Whether leave to appeal against sentence should be granted
Outcome: Application for leave to appeal against sentence refused; the 58-month sentence imposed by the lower court is upheld.
Cited by 68 cases · Cites 6 cases
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CACC 355/2008 香港特別行政區 高等法院上訴法庭 刑事司法管轄權 刑期上訴許可申請 案件編號 :刑事上訴案件 2008 年第 355 號 (原區域法院刑事案件 2008 年第 403 號) ----------------------
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判案書 上訴法庭法官張澤祐頒發上訴法庭判案書: 刑期上訴許可申請 1.申請人於 2008 年 10 月 6 日在區域法院暫委法官郭啟安席前承認兩項「販運危險藥物罪」。第一項控罪的危險藥物是含 7.77 克「可卡因」的固體及含 1.81 克「氯胺酮」的粉末。第二項控罪的危險藥物是含 11.36 克「可卡因」的固體及含 37.71 克「氯胺酮」的粉末。兩種危險藥物的總數量分別為 19.l3克的「可卡因」及 39.52克的「氯胺酮」。郭法官判處申請人五十八個月監禁。申請人現就刑期提出上訴許可申請。 案情 2.案情顯示 2008 年 3 月 14 日,警員在西營盤高街一幢大廈門外截停申請人,並在他身上搜出一條鑰匙,它是申請人在該幢大廈的住所鑰匙。由於當時警員已持有法院頒發的搜查令,所以隨即與申請人進入該單位。警員在單位內首先替申請人搜身,警員從他的內褲搜出一個大膠袋,內藏三包危險藥物(即控罪一的危險藥物)及十五個可再封式透明膠袋。另外,警員在申請人的床上搜獲十六袋危險藥物(第二項控罪的危險藥物)。 量刑方式 3.上訴法庭已在多宗案例中闡述法庭在處理被告人販運超過一種危險藥物時所採用的兩種量刑方法:
4.除了上述原則外,本庭有以下的補充意見:
郭法官的計算方法 5.在本案,郭法官是採用「個別方式」。他先考慮兩種不同危險藥物之個別量刑基準,然後作出一個整體性的量刑基準。 6.首先,他裁定 19.13 克「可卡因」的刑期應為六十八個月監禁(劉德明一案有關販運「海洛英」量刑指引適用於販運「可卡因」刑期,見AG v. Pedro Neil Rojas [1994] 2 HKLRD)。郭法官認同「可卡因」的毒性比「氯安酮」為高,但本案的「氯安酮」總分量高達 39.52 克,若採用當時適用的量刑指引,有關的量刑基準是二十七個月監禁(當時「氯安」與「狂喜」、「忘我」的量刑基準是相同的,見:李德軍 [1998] 2 HKLRD 46及HKSAR v. Leung Chun Fung [2003] 2 HKLRD 282)。最終,郭法官採用八十七個月監禁作為整體量刑基準,在扣減申請人認罪的三分一之後,刑期為五十八個月監禁。 上訴理由 7.代表申請人的孔慶碩大律師指出,假設涉案的全部 58.65 克危險藥物都是較嚴重類別的危險藥物類別「可卡因」,根據指引適當的量刑基準是八年(即九十六個月)監禁,但郭法官若採用「個別方式」,將兩個分別為六十八個月及二十七個月監禁的量刑基準合起來計算,即是九十五個月監禁,這與上述假設的量刑基準幾乎一樣,所以採用這個方式對申請人是不公平的。 本庭的意見 8.本案的兩類危險藥物是個別包裝的,它們並非混合在一起的混合危險藥物。在這情況下,本庭不認為郭法官採用「個別方式」來考慮量刑基準是錯誤的做法,他採用這方式時已經考慮過陳浩維一案的原則及本案的危險藥物的毒性及分量。由於郭法官沒有將兩項刑期加起來作為一項最終量刑基準,所以本案並沒有出現如Yip Wai Yin 案的荒謬現象。他只是將六十八個月監禁的量刑基準上調至八十七個月監禁。 9.其實本案的最終爭議點是郭法官所作出的八十七個月監禁的量刑基準是否與刑期的整體性原則有所抵觸。本案的兩種危險藥物的分量都非常多,在這情況下本庭不認為八十七個月監禁的量刑基準是明顯過高,本庭因此駁回申請。
答辯人:由律政司說級檢控官曾藹琪代表。 申請人:由法律援助署轉聘孔慶碩大律師代表。 |
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