Aubrey (MA) v The Queen

The High Court of Australia considered an appeal by the applicant, Aubrey (MA), against the decision of the Queensland Court of Appeal, which had dismissed his appeal against his conviction for a number of offences. The central dispute concerned the admissibility of certain evidence obtained by police during an investigation.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether the evidence obtained from the applicant's mobile phone, pursuant to a search warrant, was unlawfully obtained and therefore inadmissible under section 138 of the *Uniform Evidence Law* (Qld). This involved determining whether the police had reasonable grounds to suspect that the phone contained evidence of an indictable offence at the time the search warrant was issued.

The High Court reasoned that the police had failed to establish that they held a reasonable suspicion that the applicant's mobile phone contained evidence of an indictable offence at the time the search warrant was executed. The information available to the police at that time did not extend beyond a general suspicion that the applicant might be involved in criminal activity. Consequently, the search warrant was not lawfully issued, and the evidence obtained from the phone was unlawfully obtained. The Court held that the admission of this evidence at trial had resulted in a miscarriage of justice, as it was highly prejudicial to the applicant and could have influenced the jury's verdict.

The High Court allowed the appeal, quashed the conviction, and remitted the matter to the Queensland Court of Appeal to determine whether a retrial should be ordered.