Herscu v The Queen

Herscu v The Queen concerned an appeal to the High Court of Australia following a conviction for murder. The appellant, Herscu, had been found guilty of murder by a jury in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and sentenced to imprisonment for life. The appeal to the High Court challenged the validity of that conviction.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the trial judge had erred in law by admitting evidence of the appellant's prior convictions. Specifically, the court had to determine if this evidence was improperly used to establish a propensity on the part of the appellant to commit the offence charged, thereby prejudicing the jury against him. The admissibility of such evidence, particularly when it suggests a tendency to commit similar crimes, is a well-established area of criminal law.

The High Court, in allowing the appeal, held that the admission of the prior convictions was a material error of law. The court reasoned that the evidence of prior convictions was not relevant to any issue in dispute in the trial for murder, nor was it admissible under any exception to the general rule prohibiting evidence of bad character. The jury was therefore invited to infer guilt from the appellant's past criminal record, rather than from the evidence relating to the specific offence charged. This constituted a miscarriage of justice, as the jury's verdict may have been influenced by inadmissible evidence.

Consequently, the High Court quashed the conviction and ordered a new trial.