A Sydney man previously convicted of a drive-by shooting has had his guilty verdict overturned after judges ruled that the trial judge’s conduct may have influenced the jury improperly, raising concerns of a miscarriage of justice.

Meyez Elkerdi, an alleged member of the Hells Angels, was found guilty in 2023 of firing a firearm at a unit on Gregory Street in South Coogee. The conviction followed a trial overseen by NSW District Court Judge Michael King, who also presided over the case of Elkerdi’s co-accused, James Scicluna. However, an appeal panel of three judges from the Court of Criminal Appeal has unanimously concluded that Judge King’s handling of the trial may have unfairly swayed the jury’s decision.

Elkerdi had not testified during the trial and instead relied on evidence presented by Scicluna, who rejected any involvement by Elkerdi in the shooting. Scicluna told the court that he had dropped Elkerdi off at his grandmother’s house before the shots were fired. He further claimed that a friend—never identified—was responsible for the shooting, describing how he was allegedly assaulted multiple times by this individual after inquiring about the incident, which made him fearful of disclosing information to police or in court.

Police recovered the firearm used in the incident, finding Scicluna’s fingerprints and DNA on it. Scicluna later admitted to providing false information to the police in his initial statement. During the trial, Judge King expressed skepticism about Scicluna’s narrative, repeatedly referring to the unknown shooter as “Mr No Name” and questioning the likelihood of some of the circumstances described by Scicluna.

Elkerdi’s defence team had argued that Judge King’s summary of the evidence was partial and more akin to a prosecution closing address than a neutral summation. Despite these objections, the trial continued, and the jury found Elkerdi guilty.

In their ruling, Justices Natalie Adams, Richard Cavanagh, and Sarah McNaughton determined that the judge’s “expressions of opinion and characterisation of Mr Scicluna’s evidence” might have improperly influenced the jury, warranting a new trial. The court ordered a retrial on the single charge of firing a firearm at the South Coogee property.

This is not the first instance in which Judge King’s summing-up remarks have been called into question. In 2019, a retrial was ordered after he was found to have inappropriately influenced a jury in a drug importation case involving Jason Troy McKell, who subsequently won his appeal against conviction.