No jury in trial against public officer

A physiotherapist facing 542 corruption charges will have his trial heard by judge alone after the court found there had been extensive media publicity.

Jacob Anthonisz pleaded not guilty over allegations he acted corruptly as a public officer through helping former bureaucrat Paul Whyte siphon more than $22 million from government departments between 2008 and 2019.

In a decision handed down today, Supreme Court of Western Australia Justice Joseph McGrath said the extensive media coverage was prejudicial and created a hostile public climate to Mr Anthonisz.

“A significant factor that weighs on my finding is that the co-offender and principal offender pleaded guilty and was subject to extensive media coverage, prior and subsequent to his plea of guilty and being sentenced,” he said.

Mr Whyte pleaded guilty to 564 charges of corruption and money laundering, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

He was the Department of Communities assistant director general.

It has been alleged that Mr Whyte approved department invoices and payments made from 2008 to 2019, totalling more than $22 million, to bank accounts allegedly held by businesses linked to Mr Anthonisz.

In 2021, the Corruption and Crime Commission said this was the biggest case of corruption by a public servant in Australia.

“Understandably, given the nature and extent of the corruption offences committed by Mr Whyte, extensive media coverage has occurred,” Justice McGrath said in his judgment.

“A trial judge would be required to direct the jury concerning pre-trial publicity.

“However, in this case there has been widespread pre-trial publicity that arises from the time of the arrest of Mr Whyte, to his sentencing on his plea of guilty.”

Justice McGrath said the trial might be unreasonably burdensome to a jury because of the amount of evidence.

“The evidence includes approximately 1,200 pages of documents comprising bank statements, transaction histories, invoices and other accounting records and extensive electronic communications,” he said.

The trial is due to be heard in August.