Coates v The Queen

The applicant, George Alfred Coates, sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia from a decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal of Western Australia. Coates had been convicted of unlawfully doing grievous bodily harm with intent to do grievous bodily harm and sentenced to five years imprisonment. His appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal, which dismissed his conviction, was based on an objection to the admissibility of a deposition taken during committal proceedings.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the deposition of a witness, Ms. Puzey, had been properly admitted into evidence at trial. Section 107 of the *Evidence Act 1906-1948* (W.A.) permitted the reception of such a deposition if it was proved that the witness was out of Western Australia at the time of trial. The prosecution sought to establish this by presenting a telegram from the police in Melbourne stating that Ms. Puzey had been interviewed there and indicated she would not appear in Perth, in addition to oral testimony that she had sailed from Fremantle on an interstate liner.

The High Court concluded that the telegram was not admissible evidence of the witness's absence from the State. However, the Court held that the question of whether sufficient other evidence existed to justify an inference that the witness was absent from Western Australia was a matter of degree and did not raise a substantial question of law suitable for special leave to appeal. While acknowledging some doubt regarding the sufficiency of the remaining evidence and the seriousness of the sentence imposed, the Court ultimately determined that the case did not warrant interference with its appellate jurisdiction. Therefore, special leave to appeal was refused.