JD v Tasmania

The applicant, JD, appealed to the Full Court of the Supreme Court of Tasmania against his conviction. The central dispute concerned the admission of evidence at trial which the applicant argued constituted a miscarriage of justice.

The Full Court was required to determine whether the admission of tendency evidence, specifically evidence of the applicant’s alleged tendency to have a sexual interest in young or adolescent females within his care, amounted to a miscarriage of justice. This involved assessing whether the probative value of this evidence was outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice to the applicant.

The Court reasoned that the tendency evidence had significant probative value. It found that the trial judge had adequately addressed the risk of the jury improperly using or giving disproportionate weight to this evidence through their directions. Consequently, the Court concluded that the probative value of the evidence outweighed the danger of unfair prejudice, and therefore, no miscarriage of justice had occurred.

Leave to appeal was granted, but the appeal was ultimately dismissed.