Perrier v The Queen

This matter came before the High Court of Australia on an application for special leave to appeal. The applicant, Mr Perrier, sought to challenge a decision of the Full Court of the Supreme Court of Victoria. The dispute concerned the circumstances under which the applicant's character was put in issue during his trial, the alleged grave miscarriage of justice arising from a mistake made by his counsel, and the severity of the sentences imposed.

The legal issues before the High Court were threefold. Firstly, the court was asked to consider the criteria for determining when an accused person's character has been put in issue during a trial. Secondly, the court had to assess whether an alleged error by counsel, described as an unauthorized, inexplicable, and inexcusable mistake, constituted a grave miscarriage of justice. Finally, the court was to examine the nature of the head sentence and minimum term of imprisonment, which were described as the most severe handed down in Victoria at that time.

The applicant argued that character was not put in issue merely because counsel began to ask a question and then withdrew it before completion, thus producing no admissible evidence. Furthermore, the applicant contended that counsel's mistake in attempting to ask the question, which he realised and desisted from before completion, was not a deliberate act but rather a failure to foresee the legal consequences of his intended question. This mistake, it was submitted, was made without the client's knowledge or instruction and was compounded by the confusion surrounding the issue in the Full Court. The applicant sought to rely on an affidavit from counsel to clarify the nature of this mistake.