Cameron v the Queen P59/2001

The High Court of Australia considered the appeal of Cameron against the conviction for murder entered against him in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The central dispute concerned the admissibility of certain evidence obtained from the appellant, and whether its admission had occasioned a miscarriage of justice.

The High Court was required to determine whether the evidence obtained from the appellant, specifically statements made by him and items seized from his person, was unlawfully obtained. Further, the Court had to consider whether, assuming the evidence was unlawfully obtained, its admission into evidence at the trial had resulted in a miscarriage of justice, thereby warranting the quashing of the conviction.

The majority of the High Court, comprising Gaudron, McHugh, Gummow and Kirby JJ, held that the evidence had been unlawfully obtained. However, they differed on the question of whether a miscarriage of justice had occurred. The majority found that the admission of the unlawfully obtained evidence did not occasion a miscarriage of justice, as it was highly probable that the jury would have reached the same verdict even if the evidence had been excluded. Callinan J, dissenting, considered that the evidence had not been unlawfully obtained and, in any event, that its admission had occasioned a miscarriage of justice.

The appeal was dismissed, with the conviction and sentence affirmed.