Kuehne v R; Humphries M v R; Humphries A v R [2012] NSWCCA 270

Kuehne v R; Humphries M v R; Humphries A v R [2012] NSWCCA 270

The appeal succeeded because the bare fact that the appellants delayed about five days before attending the police station was not capable of rationally supporting an inference of consciousness of guilt of the offences charged. The trial judge's direction allowed the jury to use that delay as positive evidence of guilt, although the reasoning was circular and risked converting the appellants' defence accounts into a plank of the prosecution case. In a case where the credibility of the Crown witnesses was directly challenged, the Court could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of guilt on the properly admitted evidence, so the proviso was not applied. The interests of justice did not...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
14 December 2012
Procedural Posture
Criminal Appeal Against Conviction / Appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal From Convictions in the District Court
Outcome
Appeal upheld; convictions quashed; verdicts of acquittal entered for each appellant.
Legal Topics
['conviction Appeal' 'post Offence Conduct' 'consciousness of Guilt' 'right to Silence' 'miscarriage of Justice' 'proviso' 'retrial']
['criminal Law' 'evidence' 'criminal Procedure'] ['conviction Appeal' 'post Offence Conduct' 'consciousness of Guilt' 'right to Silence' 'miscarriage of Justice' 'proviso' 'retrial']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Criminal Appeal Against Conviction / Appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal From Convictions in the District Court

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether the trial judge erred by directing the jury that the appellants' delay of about five days before attending the police station could be used as evidence of consciousness of guilt." "Whether the consciousness of guilt direction had the effect of infringing the appellants' right to silence." 'Whether any miscarriage of justice should be cured by the proviso in s 6(1) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1912.' 'Whether a retrial should be ordered after quashing the convictions.']

Ratio Decidendi

The appeal succeeded because the bare fact that the appellants delayed about five days before attending the police station was not capable of rationally supporting an inference of consciousness of guilt of the offences charged. The trial judge's direction allowed the jury to use that delay as positive evidence of guilt, although the reasoning was circular and risked converting the appellants' defence accounts into a plank of the prosecution case. In a case where the credibility of the Crown witnesses was directly challenged, the Court could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of guilt on the properly admitted evidence, so the proviso was not applied. The interests of justice did not...

Court Disposition

Appeal upheld; convictions quashed; verdicts of acquittal entered for each appellant.

Orders

  • ['Appeal upheld.' 'The convictions of each of the appellants be quashed.' 'Verdicts of acquittal be entered for each of the appellants.']