O'Connell v Director of Public Prosecutions (No 3)

In *O'Connell v Director of Public Prosecutions (No 3)*, the applicant, O'Connell, sought bail following the Court of Appeal setting aside a verdict of guilty of murder. The Director of Public Prosecutions opposed the application. The central question before the Chief Justice was whether special and exceptional circumstances existed that favoured the grant of bail to O'Connell.

The legal issue before the court was whether the circumstances surrounding the setting aside of the murder verdict by the Court of Appeal, and the reservation of the question of whether another verdict should be entered, constituted "special and exceptional circumstances" for the purposes of granting bail.

McCallum CJ reasoned that the mere fact that a conviction had been set aside and a further determination was pending did not, in itself, create special and exceptional circumstances warranting bail. The Chief Justice considered the applicant's criminal history and the nature of the offence, finding that these factors, when weighed against the pending further proceedings, did not meet the threshold for special and exceptional circumstances.

Consequently, bail was refused.