Andrew O’Brien KC (leading N Boyd) appeared for the appellant (pro bono).
This case involved an appeal against a murder conviction. The sole ground of appeal raised by the appellant was that the verdict was unreasonable or could not be supported having regard to the evidence. When the appeal was heard, an additional ground of appeal was sought and leave granted: that there had been a substantial miscarriage of justice due to the trial judge failing to direct the jury as to the proper use they may take of evidence of the post-offence conduct. The Court considered three specific complaints: first, that the trial judge wrongly confined the Edwards direction to lies, second, that the trial judge did not precisely identify the evidence of the two types of post offence conduct, and third, that the cumulative use direction was apt to confuse. The appeal was dismissed, with the Court rejecting all three complaints, and concluding that as no submissions were made to support the ground of appeal that the verdict of the trial judge was unreasonable, it could not succeed.
The judgment can be read by clicking here
