R v Baden-Clay

Case [2015] QCA 265

SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CITATION:

R v Baden-Clay [2015] QCA 265

PARTIES:

R
v
BADEN-CLAY, Gerard Robert
(appellant)

FILE NO/S:

CA No 188 of 2014
SC No 467 of 2013

DIVISION:

Court of Appeal

PROCEEDING:

Appeal against Conviction

ORIGINATING COURT:


Supreme Court at Brisbane – Unreported, 15 July 2014

DELIVERED ON:

8 December 2015

DELIVERED AT:

Brisbane

HEARING DATE:

7 August 2015

JUDGES:

Holmes CJ and Fraser and Gotterson JJA
Judgment of the Court

ORDERS:

1.   The appeal against conviction is allowed.

2.   The verdict of guilty of murder is set aside and a verdict of manslaughter is substituted.

3.   The respondent is to file and serve submissions as to sentence by 15 January 2016.

4.   The appellant is to file and serve submissions as to sentence by 22 January 2016.

CATCHWORDS:

CRIMINAL LAW – APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL – PARTICULAR GROUNDS OF APPEAL – MISDIRECTION AND NON-DIRECTION – OTHER MATTERS – where the appellant was convicted of murdering his wife – where three expert forensic witnesses gave evidence about a set of abrasions and scratches on the appellant’s cheek – where they considered that the abrasions were typical of injuries caused by fingernails, but were equivocal about the cause of the scratches – where two of the expert witnesses considered that the scratches were inflicted after the abrasions – where the appellant gave evidence that the abrasions and scratches were all caused by him shaving with a blunt razor blade – where the appellant argues that the trial judge erred in directing the jury that if the appellant had attempted to disguise the abrasions by placing shaving cuts near them, that conduct could support an inference of guilt of murder or manslaughter – whether the trial judge erred

CRIMINAL LAW – APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL – MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE – PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES NOT AMOUNTING TO MISCARRIAGE – MISDIRECTION OR NON-DIRECTION – where the appellant was convicted of murdering his wife – where her blood was found in a family vehicle and her body at a nearby creek – where the appellant argues that findings that the deceased’s blood was left in the vehicle at the time she disappeared and that he transported her body to the creek were indispensable intermediate steps in arriving at the conclusion that he had unlawfully killed her – where the trial judge declined to direct the jury that they needed to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant transported the deceased’s body to the creek – where the trial judge was not asked to direct the jury that they needed to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the deceased’s blood was left in the vehicle at the time of her disappearance – whether the trial judge erred – whether there was a miscarriage of justice

CRIMINAL LAW – APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL – VERDICT UNREASONABLE OR INSUPPORTABLE HAVING REGARD TO EVIDENCE – APPEAL ALLOWED – where the appellant was convicted of murdering his wife – where the appellant argues that the verdict was…

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AGLC
R v Baden-Clay [2015] QCA 265
Case
[2015] QCA 265
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Supreme Court of Queensland, the appeal was brought by the appellant, Gerard Baden-Clay, against his conviction for the murder of his wife, Janelle. The central issue in the appeal was the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict, and whether the trial judge's directions to the jury regarding the appellant's conduct post-offence could have led to a miscarriage of justice. The Court was also tasked with determining whether the jury could have reasonably inferred the necessary intent for murder from the evidence presented.

The Court examined whether the trial judge's direction regarding the appellant's alleged attempt to disguise facial injuries by placing shaving cuts near abrasions was supported by the evidence, and if so, whether this could support an inference of guilt. The experts' testimonies were equivocal about the cause of the scratches, and there was no clear evidence that the scratches were inflicted at a different time or by a different means than the abrasions. The Court concluded that the trial judge’s direction was not adequately supported by the evidence, and thus, it constituted an error. The Court further deliberated on whether the findings regarding the appellant's transportation of the body and the presence of blood in the vehicle were indispensable intermediate steps in establishing the appellant's guilt. The Court found that the trial judge's failure to direct the jury on these points did not amount to a miscarriage of justice.

The Court also considered whether the verdict was unreasonable or insupportable given the evidence. The appellant argued that a reasonably open hypothesis was that the deceased had scratched him during a physical confrontation, and he killed her unintentionally, with his subsequent conduct attributable to panic. The Court found that while the evidence could support an inference of intent to kill, there was also a reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence of murder. Given the equivocal nature of the evidence, particularly regarding the cause of the injuries and the appellant's conduct, the Court concluded that the jury could not have been satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of the necessary intent for murder.

The Court allowed the appeal against conviction, set aside the verdict of guilty of murder, and substituted a verdict of manslaughter. The Court ordered that the respondent file and serve submissions as to sentence by a specified date, and likewise for the appellant.

Orders

Orders of the court

1. The appeal against conviction is allowed.

2. The verdict of guilty of murder is set aside and a verdict of manslaughter is substituted.

3. The respondent is to file and serve submissions as to sentence by 15 January 2016.

4. The appellant is to file and serve submissions as to sentence by 22 January 2016.

Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

Professor Wells had also looked at the photographs of the marks on the appellant’s trunk. There was bruising on the left shoulder which could have been the product of the dragging of fingernails through a shirt. Similarly, there was bruising on the chest which could have been caused by a fingernail or a blunt force impact, through fabric. The right armpit marking was consistent with clothing having been pulled forcibly against the skin.Whether there was evidence to support the direction on concealment of facial injuries The trial judge gave an Edwards[3] direction in respect of the use the jury could make of the appellant’s assertions that he had caused all his facial injuries while shaving, if they found them to be false; no issue was taken about that direction. In addition, however, his Honour, over objection, directed the jury that if the appellant had attempted to disguise the abrasions by placing shaving cuts near them in an attempt to provide an innocent explanation for the injuries, that conduct could support an inference of guilt of murder or manslaughter. His Honour gave the usual cautions as to the use of the evidence and in particular emphasised that it was necessary to give careful consideration to whether the conduct could support an inference of murderous intent, as opposed to unlawful killing without that intent.[3]Edwards v The Queen (1993) 178 CLR 193. The appellant contended that the directions should not have been given, because there was no evidence or no sufficient evidence available to support a finding that the appellant had sought to disguise the abrasions. It was necessary for that finding to be made that the Crown establish, firstly, that the small red scratches were made at a different time from the three orange vertical abrasions and, secondly, that they were made by a means different from that which had inflicted the abrasions. Dr Stark had acknowledged the difficulty of ageing injuries and expressed her view of the respective ages of the orange and red marks only at the level of possibility. She had in re‑examination accepted that the red marks might have been caused by a fingernail, leaving two possibilities open. Dr Hoskins conceded that he could not say with certainty that the redder injuries were caused at a different time, and Professor Wells was not able to make any comment. Professor Wells thought that the red scratches could have been produced by a blade but also might have been a product of the same implement as the abrasions.Conclusions Having regard to the expert evidence, the jury could start from the premise that the orange abrasions were, indeed, fingernail scratches. The preferred view of all three experts who had examined the photographs was to that effect; and Dr Griffiths, who actually saw the abrasions, similarly considered that they appeared to be fingernail scratch marks. The experts were certainly more equivocal about the cause of the red scratches. That was, however, immaterial, given that at no stage was it asserted by the defence at trial that the red scratches were produced by anything other than a razor. The appellant volunteered no other cause for them; his evidence was that he had cut himself repeatedly while shaving, resulting in “two fairly long slices” from his face. It was put to him in cross‑examination that the marks “at the bottom” (the red scratches) were shaving cuts, but that the other injuries were not; he maintained that all were shaving cuts. Plainly the defence case was that the small red scratches were the product of careless razor use, not fingernail scratches. The expert evidence, on the other hand, was certainly sufficient basis to conclude that the abrasions were caused by fingernails. It follows that it was entirely open to the jury to conclude that a different mechanism was involved in the two different forms of injury.

Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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