Disgraced former police officer Roger Rogerson's murder conviction is unreasonable as shown by how he acted before and after the killing, an appeal court has heard.
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Rogerson, 79, and fellow former detective Glen McNamara, 60, were jailed for life in 2016 for the cold-blooded execution of drug dealer Jamie Gao in a south Sydney storage locker in May 2014.
At trial, Rogerson argued his innocence by saying he was unaware of McNamara's murder plans.
"He (Rogerson) brought his own car to the scene of the crime," Rogerson's barrister John Stratton SC told the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal on Wednesday.
"It would not make sense for him to do it in his own car if it was planned to either rob or kill the deceased."
One of the three judges hearing the appeal this week said the theory was interesting.
"But it's been my experience that not each premeditated crime involves skilfully and intelligently thought-through plans," Justice Robert Allan Hulme said.
"Sometimes, people of reasonable intelligence do some pretty stupid things."
Mr Stratton conceded that but pointed out the crown case at the four-month-long trial had been that Mr Gao's death was a planned crime.
"It's not conceivable that this man Rogerson would not have thought through that very basic flaw that, in my submission, even the most simple armed robber would have thought of," he said.
Describing its case as "compelling", the Crown said Rogerson's reaction as captured on CCTV wasn't consistent with finding Mr Gao's body and McNamara "in a distressed condition".
"Instead, (Rogerson) and McNamara appear to be acting according to plan," crown prosecutors Eric Balodis and Karl Prince say in written submissions.
Another prong of Rogerson's conviction appeal calls for a new trial after the emergence of what has been called new evidence.
If successful on any ground, Rogerson wants the court to reduce his nine-year jail term for robbing Mr Gao of 2.78 kilograms of methamphetamine.
The Crown submitted the court should dismiss all appeals.
McNamara's legal team began outlining its appeal on Wednesday afternoon, alleging the trial judge erred by not allowing their client to detail his prior belief that Rogerson had murdered before and that McNamara therefore acted under duress.
The pair were found guilty in June 2016 after a four-month trial that heard Mr Gao was lured to a darkened storage shed in Padstow and shot dead, before Rogerson and McNamara attempted to cover their tracks by dumping his body at sea.
They used the skills and knowledge honed over their years as sworn NSW police officers to gain Mr Gao's trust, the sentencing judge found.
Australian Associated Press
