Medich v The Queen

The High Court of Australia heard an appeal from the Court of Criminal Appeal of New South Wales in the matter of *Medich v The Queen*. The appellant, Medich, was convicted of the murder of Donald Mackay. The central dispute on appeal concerned the admissibility of certain evidence, specifically a confession made by Medich to a police officer, and the subsequent use of that confession in the Crown's case.

The High Court was required to determine whether the trial judge erred in admitting the confession into evidence, notwithstanding that it was obtained after Medich had been cautioned but before he was formally charged. A further issue was whether the trial judge erred in admitting evidence of a prior inconsistent statement made by Medich, which the Crown sought to use to rebut the defence's assertion that Medich had not been involved in the murder. The Court also considered whether the trial judge's directions to the jury regarding the use of this evidence were adequate.

The High Court held that the trial judge had not erred in admitting the confession. The Court applied the principles established in *R v Swaffield* and *R v Harris*, which confirm that a confession made by a suspect who has been cautioned but not yet charged is not automatically inadmissible. The Court found that the caution given to Medich was sufficient and that there was no evidence to suggest that the confession was involuntary or improperly obtained. Furthermore, the Court found that the prior inconsistent statement was properly admitted as it was relevant to the issue of Medich's involvement and was not unfairly prejudicial. The jury directions were also deemed to be adequate in light of the evidence presented.

The appeal was dismissed.