GAX v The Queen

The High Court of Australia heard an appeal from GAX (the appellant) against a decision of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Queensland. The appellant had been convicted on one count of aggravated indecent dealing with his daughter, but acquitted on two other counts relating to the same child. The central dispute concerned whether the jury's verdict of guilty on the remaining count was unreasonable or insupportable, particularly in light of the acquittals on the other counts.

The legal issues before the High Court were whether the Court of Appeal had failed to conduct an independent assessment of the sufficiency and quality of the evidence when determining the reasonableness of the verdict, and whether the verdict itself was indeed unreasonable. The appellant argued that the Court of Appeal had erred in concluding that the jury could have reasonably convicted him on the third count.

The High Court allowed the appeal, quashing the conviction and entering a verdict of acquittal. Their Honours found that the Court of Appeal had not adequately assessed the evidence in relation to the third count. The complainant's evidence, which was critical to the conviction, described an incident where the appellant's fingers were near her vagina while she was asleep, and her mother entered the room to find her underwear pulled down. However, the complainant could not recall the specific actions of the appellant or how her underwear came to be down. Given the lack of detail and the complainant's inability to recall key aspects of the alleged touching, the High Court concluded that the evidence was not capable of supporting a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt for the offence charged in count three.