Leaman v The Queen

In the case of Leaman v The Queen, Maxwell Keith Leaman, the appellant, and his wife Gail Leaman were jointly indicted for the murder of Pauline Glover, a woman who had lived with the appellant as his wife. The Crown alleged that the appellant murdered Glover by striking her with a shovel or other instrument and burying her alive, and that Gail Leaman aided or abetted him to commit the murder. The appellant applied for separate trials, which was refused by the learned trial judge. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of murder against the appellant and not guilty of murder, but guilty of being accessory after the fact to murder, against Gail Leaman. The appellant appealed against his conviction on the ground that there had been a miscarriage of justice by reason of the failure of the learned trial judge to order separate trials. The Court of Criminal Appeal allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial. The court held that the joint trial denied the accused a fair trial and resulted in a miscarriage of justice because the prejudicial effect of the inadmissible evidence was not adequately neutralised by appropriate instructions to the jury. The unsworn statement made by the co-accused was so prejudicial to the appellant that notwithstanding the clear directions of the learned trial judge, the jury could not be expected to consider the case against the appellant uninfluenced by it. The joint trial produced a miscarriage of justice insofar as the appellant was concerned, and his conviction ought to be quashed. The court ordered a new trial.