Green v The Queen; Quinn v The Queen [2011] HCATrans 71

In *Green v The Queen* and *Quinn v The Queen* [2011] HCATrans 71, the High Court of Australia considered appeals by the applicants, Green and Quinn, against their convictions for murder. The applicants had been convicted following a trial in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the trial judge had erred in law by failing to direct the jury on the defence of provocation. Specifically, the applicants argued that there was sufficient evidence of provocation to warrant such a direction, and that its absence prejudiced their defence.

Bell J, sitting as a single judge of the High Court, reviewed the evidence presented at trial. His Honour determined that, based on the evidence, no reasonable jury, properly instructed, could have found that the elements of provocation were made out. Consequently, the trial judge was not obliged to leave the defence of provocation to the jury. The applications for special leave to appeal were therefore dismissed.