McLean and Trinh v The Queen

The applicants, McLean and Trinh, appealed their convictions for murder to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. McLean argued that the jury's verdict was unreasonable and could not be supported by the evidence. Trinh's appeal concerned the admission of inadmissible material before the jury during his trial.

The Court was required to determine whether, having regard to all the evidence, it was open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of the guilt of each appellant. For Trinh, the Court also had to consider whether the admission of inadmissible material constituted a miscarriage of justice, despite the evidence otherwise proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

The Court applied the principles established in *M v The Queen* and *Yunupingu v The Queen*, which require an appellate court to assess whether, despite the evidence being legally sufficient, the verdict is unsafe or unsatisfactory. This involves considering whether, upon the whole of the evidence, it was open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of guilt, while giving full regard to the jury's advantage of seeing and hearing the witnesses. The Court found that it was open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of McLean's guilt and that the confessions made were true, noting the jury's opportunity to assess the demeanour of both McLean and Trinh. For Trinh, the Court concluded that no miscarriage of justice had occurred.

Consequently, McLean's appeal against his conviction was dismissed. Leave to appeal for Trinh was refused.