LFS v The Queen

The appellant, LFS, sought leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia against convictions for three counts of incest, contrary to section 197 of the *Criminal Code* of Western Australia. The respondent was the Crown.

The sole ground of appeal pursued by the appellant concerned the manner in which the prosecution presented evidence and the directions given to the jury. Specifically, the appellant argued that where an indictment alleges a single, specific offence, it is impermissible for the Crown to lead evidence of multiple acts constituting the *actus reus* of that offence and then invite the jury to convict on any one of those acts. The appellant clarified that this was not an argument that the indictment was bad for duplicity, but rather that the evidence led and the jury's direction allowed for a conviction based on any one of several proven acts within the specified timeframe, despite the indictment alleging only one offence.

The High Court was therefore required to determine whether, in the context of a single count indictment for incest, the Crown could present evidence of multiple instances of the offence and direct the jury to convict if satisfied of any one of those instances. The appellant contended that this approach created a situation where evidence of multiple offences was presented, and the jury was invited to convict on any one of them, which was contrary to the principle that a single count alleges a specific offence. The Court was asked to consider the relevant portions of the summing up and the evidence presented by the victim, JAS, detailing acts of sexual intercourse.