<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>332926</docID> <postdate>2024-11-12 16:20:34</postdate> <headline>Judge to quit after ex-partner assault guilty ruling</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 set to resign after being found guilty of assaulting his ex-partner has "lost everything" and has limited job prospects, his lawyer has told a court.</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 as well as one count of emotional abuse or intimidation for 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 "imminently" 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 Cangelosi said.</p> <p>"The defendant has reached the conclusion he is not able to sit as a judge."</p> <p>The court was told Geason, expected to be sentenced on Thursday, had informed the state government and the chief justice of his intention to step down.</p> <p>The 63-year-old, who became a Supreme Court judge in 2017, had suffered overwhelming shame and public loss of face, Mr Cangelosi said.</p> <p>"(He) has very limited prospects of future employment. It is not practically open to (him) to return to legal practice in Tasmania," he said.</p> <p>Geason had lost standing, reputation and was living a lonely existence, Mr Cangelosi said.</p> <p>"The destruction of his public image and professional life is total," Mr Cangelosi said.</p> <p>The woman, who read a statement via video link, said she was no longer the same person and spent months in hospital after the assault and couldn't work for eight months.</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>Director of public prosecutions Daryl Coates said Geason's offending was a serious example of common assault and a jail term, suspended or not, should be considered.</p> <p>Mr Coates said the assault stemmed from jealousy, a desire to control the woman and contained numerous applications of force resulting in extensive bruising and concussion.</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 was being treated for his mental health, 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>Magistrate Susan Wakeling previously found the woman, who gave evidence at a week-plus hearing after Geason pleaded not guilty, 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>Tasmania's parliament in December abandoned an attempt to suspend Geason, who has been on leave since November 2023, because of constitutional concerns.</p> <p>His case prompted state law reform to allow for greater action against accused judges.</p> <p>Geason pleaded guilty in a NSW court on November 8 to breaching a family violence order and is expected to be sentenced on that charge in December.</p> </body>