I’m a novice on all this so forgive my ignorance, does this mean he doesn’t have to explain what happened? Can he cop his sentence and stay silent?
Not quite.. He has to tell his barrister, who has to refer the circumstances to the judge..who then takes into account all the elements and details publicly what each element of the matter has accrued in years to serve in prison.
Now... it stands to reason that Borce's story is going to be a doozy. It's going to start and finish with the premise of Poor Borce, naturally, because what Borce is looking for, and what his barrister is paid to produce are
Mitigating Circumstances that chip away, reduce incrementally each year that Borce is facing for a manslaughter sentence.
A great deal of the story will hinge on this aspect. How hard done by Borce was, how it all happened unexpectedly, how he had no idea it would happen, how he was so scared and alone and terrified, how , even , he was provoked by Karen out of his usual good nature into a bareknuckle killer in a nanosecond.
Oh yes. There will be a passing reference to Karen's intractability concerning money, her refusal to heed his advice, how it all fell down on top of him. And there we have it, an apparently dead wife in the garage.
From the judge's point of view, he has to take into account all and any Mitigating Circumstances, plus any Aggravating Circumstances that the DPP may float up to the bench, and some of those will add years to the sentence and wipe out any discount for the guilty plea that he is entitled to, plus the years deducted for Mitigating Circs.
Aggravating Circumstances that Brendan Kissane will lay down will begin with Borce's failing to call a doctor, that morning. Failing to inform an medical authority at all, no ambulance, no police, no nothing. Then, the forming of the plot to hide the 'accidental ' death. The decision to remove the body ( interference with a corpse ) , but before that, Borce had,
as a criminal act, abrogated to himself the position of a fully qualified medical doctor and pronounced Karen dead, off his own bat, a small crime , but one that carries a sharp little sentence.
Then, he removed the corpse from it's position of death. This is against the law, too. ( How he did this alone, and mangled it into Karen's car is a whole other story ) and then he drove it to where? a place from spontaneous memory? a previous known place? and abandoned her corpse there and left the premises without notifying again some form of medical authority, because it's only Borce's word that she is dead, no one else's, and if there is anything the courts hate, it someone unqualified making that decision.
A whole industry is built around requiring death being stated by certain persons only, and not the general public at whim and at will. Otherwise ,... anarchy.
Then, his refusal to notify police, and his subsequent pattern of false representation , over months , a year , to the Vic Pol, who , using taxpayers money, were searching and seeking right across Victoria for Karen.
All of these matters, plus a few more , just as heavy , will be weighted by the judge in his summing up . There wont be many secrets left , really, by the time the judge has finished.
I reckon, at least 15 years, because of the unrelenting nature of Borce's unco-operative behavior which cost the taxpayer dearly.
15 years, .. maybe 18 years with a sentence of 15 years before being able to apply for parole ( which doesn't mean he gets it, only means he can begin the process of applying for it ) …
Public expectation will be a big factor in the sentencing. No one wants to encourage men to throttle their wives and start burying them all over Vic, up and down Mt Macedon, there has to be a deterrent factor, and in this climate of Domestic Violence awareness it is a big factor and Borce could come head on into it, and get a big bang for it.
sorry for the long post!.
