Howes v the Queen M110/2000

This matter concerned an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia by the applicant, Mr Howes, against the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal of Queensland. The applicant sought to challenge his conviction for murder and the sentence imposed.

The primary legal issue before Hayne J was whether the applicant had established an arguable case of error in the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal, which would warrant the grant of special leave to appeal to the High Court. This involved considering whether the grounds of appeal raised by the applicant had sufficient merit to justify further consideration by the High Court.

Hayne J considered the grounds of appeal advanced by the applicant, which related to alleged misdirections by the trial judge and the sufficiency of the evidence. After reviewing the material before him, Hayne J concluded that no arguable case of error had been demonstrated. His Honour found that the grounds of appeal did not raise any question of law that warranted the attention of the High Court.

Accordingly, special leave to appeal was refused.