Victorian county court judge says former talent manager has ‘hurdle to jump’ to have sentence stayed until appeal is heard
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Entertainment industry and AFL figure Ralph Carr has “a hurdle to jump” if he is going to convince a Victorian judge that he should be granted a stay on his sentence for raping a former staffer, a Melbourne court has heard.
Carr, 66, appeared in the Victorian county court on Tuesday, where judge Frank Gucciardo is hearing submissions about the sentence he should receive.
Carr was last month convicted of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault after a trial. He had pleaded not guilty to the offences, which were committed against his former employee in March 2023.
This week, the court is also hearing an application from Carr for his sentence to be stayed, pending the outcome of an appeal against his conviction.
Carr’s lawyer, Dermot Dann KC, told the court on Tuesday that the case represented “the most obvious miscarriage of justice I’ve ever seen”.
He said this was because of the evidence given by the victim, which occurred in a closed court.
“Anyone who saw or heard the complainant give evidence in this trial should be very concerned, very uncomfortable with the verdict in these proceedings,” Dann said.
He told the court that “only a limited group of people who did see and hear that evidence” – which he said did not include the media and “keyboard warriors” who have “engaged in this unseemly pile on”.
“There should be no one who feels comfortable about those verdicts … anyone who is has lost sight of what justice is.”
But Gucciardo rebuked Dann, saying that he was not sure it was appropriate for him to express a view about the matter being a miscarriage of justice, and to claim that those who thought otherwise had “lost sight” of what justice was.
“I haven’t quite come to any point of conclusion, but I think it’s overstating the point to say that anyone who is comfortable with the outcome has lost sight of justice,” Gucciardo said.
“That’s not an appropriate submission to make to the court.”
Dann quoted submissions from the prosecution regarding the application, which he said outlined that if it was granted it would be the first time in Victorian history that such an application had been allowed in relation to a conviction for sexual offending.
He said that in a previous case in which a stay on sentence was granted, a judge had found he was “troubled” by the verdict.
“Well I’m not really troubled,” Gucciardo said.
The judge added that Dann had a “hurdle to jump” in order for the application to be granted.
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Ralph Carr in ‘living hell’ after being convicted of rape, Victorian court hears
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“My view of it is that we had a very conscientious jury, who listened to the evidence, who listened to your very complete … cross examination of the complainant,” Gucciardo said.
“The whole process seemed to me exactly as it should have been.”
Dann said the application was also based on concerns with 16 aspects of the evidence presented at the trial.
He also said Carr’s mental health should be a factor in the stay application, given this would worsen should he remain in custody pending an appeal.
Carr, an entertainment and sports manager, represented some of the biggest names in Australian pop music, including Vanessa Amorosi, Kate Ceberano and Tina Arena, who he married while she was signed to him. Carr and Arena divorced in 1999.
At its peak, his company Ralph Carr Management had a record label, a publishing company and a promotions/touring arm, with a client list including entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins and Neighbours star and singer Bonnie Anderson.
In recent years Carr lost a number of his high-profile clients, but continued to manage a small number of AFL players, most notably former star Richmond midfielder Dustin Martin, who cut all ties with him after the verdict.
Gucciardo said on Monday that he expected a decision would be made on the application, and a sentence handed down to Carr, next week.
The hearing continues.
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