Foster v The Queen

The appellant, Foster, was convicted by a jury of indecent assault and sexual intercourse without consent. Foster appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court of Victoria, Court of Appeal, arguing that the jury's verdicts were unreasonable and unsupported by the evidence presented at trial.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether the discrepancies and inaccuracies identified by the appellant in the complainant's evidence were sufficient to conclude that a rational jury ought to have entertained a reasonable doubt as to Foster's guilt. This involved a two-stage process: first, ascertaining the presence of the alleged discrepancies and inaccuracies, and second, assessing whether these, individually or collectively, undermined the essential features of the complainant's account to the point of necessarily giving rise to reasonable doubt, or if they were explicable in a manner that did not reflect on her credit.

The Court considered the complainant's evidence detailing the alleged offences occurring during a sleepover when she was 12 and the appellant's daughter was 11. The complainant testified that the appellant touched her vaginally. The appellant's defence highlighted that the complainant had not previously alleged penetration in earlier accounts to others before a forensic interview, suggesting her credit was impugned. However, the Court noted that the complainant's account of being touched internally was consistent with an earlier description of "fingering" made to a friend. The Court concluded that the identified discrepancies and inadequacies did not lead to a satisfaction that the jury, acting rationally, should have entertained a reasonable doubt.

The appeal was dismissed.