Doney v The Queen

The applicant, Doney, sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal. The dispute concerned the conduct of a criminal trial, specifically the admission of certain evidence and the trial judge's power to withdraw unsatisfactory evidence from the jury.

The legal issues before the High Court involved two primary grounds. The first ground concerned the inherent power of a trial judge to control the conduct of a trial and to withdraw unsatisfactory evidence from the jury, either at the close of the Crown case or at the conclusion of all evidence. The second ground related to whether certain evidence, specifically a note marked as exhibit Q, was properly admitted as corroboration of an accomplice's testimony.

The applicant argued that the trial judge erred in admitting exhibit Q as corroboration, contending that this admission rendered the subsequent jury verdict unsafe and unsatisfactory. The applicant further submitted that the trial judge wrongly believed he lacked the power to withdraw such evidence, even if he were disinclined to exercise it. The High Court was therefore required to consider the scope of a trial judge's powers regarding unsatisfactory evidence and the admissibility of corroborative evidence in criminal proceedings.