<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>332926</docID> <postdate>2024-11-12 15:16:34</postdate> <headline>Judge who assaulted former partner to resign</headline> <body><p><img class=" wp-image-332927" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/20241016119038003584-original-resized-e1731384724138.jpg" alt="" width="732" height="487" /></p> <caption>Gregory Geason will resign as a Supreme Court judge after being found guilty of assault. (Ethan James/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Ethan James</strong> in Hobart</span></p> <p><strong>A Supreme Court judge who could receive a jail sentence for assaulting and emotionally abusing his then-partner will resign from the position.</strong></p> <p>Tasmanian Justice Gregory Geason struck the woman at a Hobart home in October 2023 and pushed her, causing her to fall into a mantelpiece and suffer concussion and bruising,</p> <p>He was found guilty on October 16 of assault and one count of emotional abuse or intimidation, which involved tracking her movements, being jealous, aggressive and calling her names.</p> <p>During sentencing submissions on Tuesday, Geason's lawyer Fabiano Cangelosi told Hobart Magistrates Court his client would resign as a Supreme Court judge.</p> <p>"(Geason) considers he has lost the moral authority necessary for any judicial officer to sit in judgment over other human beings," Mr Canglosi said.</p> <p>"The defendant has reached the conclusion he is not able to sit as a judge."</p> <p>Tasmania's parliament in December abandoned an attempt to suspend Geason, who has been on leave since November 2023, because of constitutional worries.</p> <p>No date was aired in court for the resignation of Geason, 63, who is expected to be sentenced on Thursday.</p> <p>Mr Cangelosi said there was an acceptance parliament would likely try to remove Geason following the guilty ruling and recent law reforms.</p> <p>Mr Cangelosi said Geason, who had given a written undertaking to not serve as a judge until the conclusion of criminal proceedings, had "lost everything".</p> <p>"The destruction of his public image and professional life is total," Mr Cangelosi said.</p> <p>The maximum penalties for common assault were 12 months jail and a $4040 fine, while emotional abuse carried a maximum two-year jail term and $8080 fine, the court was told.</p> <p>Mr Cangelosi said Geason posed "practically" no risk of reoffending and the crimes were out of character.</p> <p>"He loved (her). There remains clear evidence of his support for her during the relationship, in an emotional sense and a material sense," he said.</p> <p>Director of public prosecutions Daryl Coates SC said Geason's offending was a serious example of common assault.</p> <p>He said the assault stemmed from jealousy, a desire to control the woman and contained numerous applications of force resulting in extensive bruising and a concussion.</p> <p>Mr Coates said a jail term, suspended or not, should be considered.</p> <p>In a statement read to the court via video link, the woman said she was in hospital for months, couldn't work for eight months and was no longer the same person.</p> <p>She said she had become a recluse, set up video cameras around her home and was constantly looking over her shoulder.</p> <p>"How could someone I loved and respected … do this to me?," she said.</p> <p>Magistrate Susan Wakeling previously found the woman, who gave evidence at a week-plus hearing, to be a truthful witness.</p> <p>Ms Wakeling said Geason's version of the assault, in which he said the woman fell, was "contrived and implausible".</p> <p>Geason pleaded guilty in a NSW court on November 8 to breaching a family violence order and is expected to be sentenced in December.</p> </body>