Adams v The King

The appellant, Adams, appealed to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory against his conviction for offences alleged to have occurred on 5 September 2010 near Yulara. The complainant was TM, the then nine-year-old daughter of the appellant's partner. The appeal was brought pursuant to s 410 of the Criminal Code 1983 (NT), with the determination governed by s 411 of the Code.

The Court was required to determine whether the jury's verdict was unreasonable or unsupported by the evidence, or if there was a wrong decision on a question of law, or if a miscarriage of justice had occurred. Specifically, the Court considered whether to allow the appeal if it found that the verdict should be set aside on these grounds, or dismiss the appeal if no substantial miscarriage of justice had actually occurred, even if points raised by the appeal might be decided in favour of the appellant.

The Crown led evidence of events occurring in Western Australia prior to the alleged offences in the Northern Territory, intended to demonstrate the appellant's tendency to be sexually interested in TM and his preparedness to act on that interest. One such event described by TM involved the appellant, who was naked in bed, kissing TM on the mouth after she joined him for a cuddle in the campervan. TM testified that she did not perceive this kiss as inappropriate at the time, as she had observed similar behaviour within her family.