Collins v The Queen

In *Collins v The Queen*, the High Court of Australia considered an appeal against convictions for indecent assault, aggravated indecent assault, and rape. The central issue at trial was the complainant's consent. The complainant had made preliminary complaints to her mother and others, and her mother's evidence at the committal hearing differed from her evidence at trial. The trial judge directed the jury that the mother's committal evidence could only be used to assess her credibility.

The High Court was required to determine whether the trial judge had misdirected the jury regarding the use of the mother's prior inconsistent statement. Specifically, the Court had to consider whether the mother had actually adopted her committal evidence at trial and, if so, whether that prior inconsistent statement was available to the jury for assessing the complainant's credibility. The Court also considered the application of the proviso, particularly whether the Court of Appeal was bound to put the appellant on notice of its potential application, especially when the prosecution had disavowed reliance on it.

The High Court reasoned that the trial judge's direction concerning the mother's committal evidence was erroneous. The evidence suggested that the mother had confirmed giving that evidence at the committal hearing and stated her memory was better then, indicating a potential adoption of that evidence. Consequently, the jury should have been permitted to consider the prior inconsistent statement for its truth, not solely for assessing the mother's credibility. The Court found that the erroneous direction constituted a substantial miscarriage of justice, and the parties agreed that given the time elapsed since the alleged offences, a new trial should be ordered rather than remitting the matter to the Court of Appeal.

The appeal was allowed, the order of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Queensland was set aside, and in lieu thereof, the appellant's appeal to that Court was allowed, his convictions and sentences were quashed, and a new trial was ordered.