Moreno v The King

The case of Moreno v The King involved the applicant, Moreno, appealing against the decision of the trial judge not to exclude evidence obtained from a witness. The evidence in question was given by a witness who identified Moreno as the person who had committed a crime. This identification occurred after the witness had a conversation with another person and was shown a photograph of Moreno on Facebook. The issue before the court was whether the evidence obtained by the witness was inadmissible under section 137 of the Evidence Act 2008, given its low probative value and the significant risk of unfair prejudice to the applicant. The court had to consider whether the probative value of the evidence was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice to the applicant. The court found that the evidence did not have a high probative value and that there was a significant risk of unfair prejudice to the applicant. The court concluded that the trial judge erred in not excluding the evidence and granted leave to appeal. The appeal was subsequently allowed.

The court considered the principles set out in cases such as Papakosmas v The Queen and R v SZBJV, which emphasised the importance of the probative value of evidence and the risk of unfair prejudice. The court found that the evidence in this case did not have a high probative value, and the significant risk of unfair prejudice to the applicant outweighed any probative value. The court found that the trial judge's decision not to exclude the evidence was an error of law. The court also noted that the witness's identification of the applicant was influenced by the conversation with another person and the Facebook photograph, which further reduced the reliability of the evidence. The court concluded that the evidence should have been excluded, and the trial judge's decision not to do so was an error of law.