Andrew O’Brien KC (leading Joshua Jones) represented the applicant instructed by Gilshenan and Luton Legal Practice.
The proceeding concerned an application for reinstatement of an abandoned appeal, or alternatively, leave to bring a subsequent appeal against conviction of one count of rape on grounds that the trial counsel had failed to put to the complainant two inconsistencies in their preliminary complaint, and that the prosecution separately failed to disclose relevant documentary material in its possession, resulting in a miscarriage of justice.
The Court of Appeal held that undisclosed body‑worn camera recording was relevant documentary material within the prosecution’s possession under ss 590AB and 590AE of the Criminal Code which could realistically have affected the jury’s reasoning in a credibility-based trial, therefore amounting to a miscarriage of justice.
Pursuant to r 70 of the Criminal Practice Rules 1999 (Qld), and with regard to the applicant’s explanation for abandoning the appeal, the promptness of the application once non‑disclosure was discovered, and the strong prospects of success, the Court held that it was in the interests of justice to set aside the abandonment and reinstate the appeal, rather than require the applicant to pursue a subsequent appeal.
The judgment can be read by clicking here
