Dansie v The Queen

The appellant, Dansie, was convicted of murder by a judge alone in the Supreme Court of South Australia. He appealed his conviction to the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia, sitting as the Court of Criminal Appeal, on the ground that the verdict was unreasonable or could not be supported having regard to the whole of the evidence. The appeal to the High Court concerned whether the Full Court had misapplied the test established in *M v The Queen* (1994) 181 CLR 487 when determining an appeal against a conviction for murder, following a trial by judge alone, on the ground of unreasonableness.

The High Court was required to determine the proper function of a court of criminal appeal when assessing an appeal against a conviction based on the unreasonableness ground, particularly in the context of a trial conducted by a judge alone. This involved considering how the appellate court should approach its independent assessment of the evidence, especially in a circumstantial case, and the extent to which it should defer to the findings of the trial judge who had the advantage of seeing and hearing the witnesses. The central question was whether the Full Court had correctly applied the principles for determining whether a verdict was unreasonable or could not be supported by the evidence.

The High Court held that the Full Court had misapplied the test in *M v The Queen*. It explained that when a court of criminal appeal considers an appeal on the ground of unreasonableness, it must undertake an independent assessment of the evidence. This assessment requires the appellate court to determine for itself whether the evidence, viewed at its highest, is capable of establishing guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The appellate court is not bound by the findings of the trial judge, even if the trial was conducted by a judge alone. The High Court concluded that the Full Court had failed to conduct this independent assessment and had instead given undue weight to the findings of the trial judge.

Consequently, the High Court allowed the appeal, set aside the order of the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia, and remitted the matter to the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of South Australia for rehearing.