Pickett v The Queen

In *Pickett v The Queen*, the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia considered an appeal against conviction for historical indecent assault. The appellant, Pickett, was convicted by a jury on some counts but acquitted on others. The appeal concerned the admissibility and reliability of complaint evidence and whether the jury's guilty verdicts were unreasonable given the evidence presented at trial.

The central legal issues before the Full Court were whether the complaint evidence was improperly admitted due to alleged unreliability, and whether the guilty verdicts returned by the jury were unreasonable and could not be supported having regard to the evidence. The court was required to assess whether any doubts experienced by the appellate court were doubts that a reasonable jury ought also to have experienced.

The Full Court reasoned that issues of inconsistency and potential problems with recall in the testimony of witnesses, including the complaint evidence, were matters more appropriately dealt with by way of jury directions and warnings. The trial judge had provided such directions and warnings, including a specific warning in relation to the evidence of one witness, which the Full Court found to be proper. The court emphasised that the jury, having seen and heard the witnesses, is best placed to assess reliability. Regarding the unreasonableness of the verdict, the Full Court applied the principle that an appellate court must determine whether it was open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt, without substituting its own assessment of the evidence for that of the jury. The court concluded that it did not entertain a reasonable doubt as to the appellant's guilt on the counts for which he was convicted, finding it open to the jury to conclude the complainant was truthful and reliable in relation to those counts.

The appeal was dismissed.