Quail v The Queen

The case of *Quail v The Queen* concerned an appeal to the High Court of Australia by the applicant, Quail, against his conviction for murder. The dispute centred on the admissibility of certain evidence during his trial.

The High Court was required to determine whether the trial judge had erred in admitting evidence of the applicant's prior convictions and, if so, whether this error had occasioned a substantial miscarriage of justice. A further issue was whether the trial judge had adequately directed the jury on the limited use to which they could put the evidence of prior convictions.

Kiefel and Gordon JJ held that the admission of the evidence of prior convictions was an error, as it was not relevant to any issue in the trial and was likely to have prejudiced the jury against the applicant. Their Honours found that the judge's directions to the jury were insufficient to mitigate this prejudice. Consequently, the Court concluded that a substantial miscarriage of justice had occurred.

The High Court allowed the appeal, quashed the conviction, and ordered a new trial.