Nguyen v R

The appellant, Nguyen, was found guilty of attempted murder following a trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria. The central issue on appeal was whether the trial judge erred in accepting a majority verdict from the jury after being informed of an 11:1 majority during deliberations. The appellant argued that the trial judge should not have proceeded with the majority verdict direction given the prior knowledge of the majority.

The court examined the legal principles surrounding majority verdicts in jury trials. It noted that while a trial judge should not proceed with a majority verdict if they are aware of the majority before it is formally declared by the jury, this alone does not necessarily constitute a substantial miscarriage of justice. The court also considered the procedural fairness aspect, noting that there was no objection to the disclosure of the jury’s division in open court, and no request was made for a further Black direction, which is a direction given to a jury when they report they are unable to agree on a verdict.

In dismissing the appeal, the court held that the trial judge’s actions did not amount to a substantial miscarriage of justice. The court distinguished this case from previous decisions such as M J R v The Queen and L L W v The Queen, where the judges had found errors in the handling of majority verdicts. Here, the court concluded that the appellant had not demonstrated a miscarriage of justice given the procedural fairness and the absence of prejudice resulting from the trial judge's actions.