Einfeld fights custodial sentence
Former Federal Court judge, Marcus Einfeld, appeared in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday for a sentencing hearing in a bid to avoid a custodial sentence.His lawyer, Jonathan Phillips, told the court that the 69-year-old was suffering from depression and prostrate cancer.
But Crown Prosecutor Wayne Roser SC pointed out that many prison inmates suffered from depression.
At the beginning of the hearing, Mr Roser objected when a request was made that Einfeld could sit behind his counsel. Judge Bruce James upheld the objection instructing Einfeld, who last year pleaded guilty to the charge of making a false statement with intent to pervert the course of justice, to sit in the dock.
Character witnesses were called together with a pyschiatrist who told the court that Einfeld would be a suicide risk if incarcerated.
The judge rejected a request that Einfeld be remanded in custody pending sentencing. The hearing is expected to finish today
