REGINA v WALKER [2000] NSWCCA 130

REGINA v WALKER [2000] NSWCCA 130

The trial judge's decision to admit the prison informer evidence under ss90 and 138 of the Evidence Act 1995 was open on the findings made: the police had not set an impermissible trap, the informer was not shown to be a police agent, the conversations were voluntary, and no relevant impropriety or unfairness requiring exclusion was established. On the whole of the evidence, including the appellant's plan to murder a taxi driver as part of an insurance fraud, admissions, the deceased's M13 alarm and conduct immediately before the shooting, and the prison informer evidence, it was open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the shooting was deliberate and accompanied by...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
23 March 2000
Procedural Posture
Criminal Appeal Against Conviction for Murder / Court of Criminal Appeal Judgment
Outcome
Appeal dismissed.
Legal Topics
['admissions and Confessions' 'discretion to Exclude Evidence' 'prison Informer Evidence' 'unfairness Discretion' 'impropriety Discretion' 'unreasonable Verdict' 'unsafe and Unsatisfactory Verdict' 'murder Intent' 'accidental Discharge']
['criminal Law' 'evidence' 'criminal Procedure'] ['admissions and Confessions' 'discretion to Exclude Evidence' 'prison Informer Evidence' 'unfairness Discretion' 'impropriety Discretion' 'unreasonable Verdict' 'unsafe and Unsatisfactory Verdict' 'murder Intent' 'accidental Discharge']

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Procedural Posture

Criminal Appeal Against Conviction for Murder / Court of Criminal Appeal Judgment

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the trial judge erred in admitting evidence of alleged conversations between the appellant and a prison informer under ss90 and 138 of the Evidence Act 1995.' 'Whether the admission of the prison informer evidence caused a miscarriage of justice under s6 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1912.' "Whether the jury's verdict of murder was unreasonable or unsafe and unsatisfactory because the Crown had not negated accident."]

Ratio Decidendi

The trial judge's decision to admit the prison informer evidence under ss90 and 138 of the Evidence Act 1995 was open on the findings made: the police had not set an impermissible trap, the informer was not shown to be a police agent, the conversations were voluntary, and no relevant impropriety or unfairness requiring exclusion was established. On the whole of the evidence, including the appellant's plan to murder a taxi driver as part of an insurance fraud, admissions, the deceased's M13 alarm and conduct immediately before the shooting, and the prison informer evidence, it was open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the shooting was deliberate and accompanied by...

Court Disposition

Appeal dismissed.

Orders

  • ['The appeal is dismissed.']