R v C, J

The appeal before the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia concerned a conviction of the appellant, R v C, J, for one count of indecent assault and one count of aggravated indecent assault. The dispute arose from allegations made by the appellant's niece, Ms C, who was approximately 11 years old at the time of the alleged offences, that her uncle had indecently assaulted her on two separate occasions when she stayed overnight at his home.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the trial judge had erred in directing the jury that the two counts of indecent assault "stand or fall together," whether the judge failed to adequately identify the evidence relating to each specific count, and whether the judge adequately directed the jury regarding inconsistencies in Ms C's evidence and the evidence pertaining to the lack of opportunity to commit the offences. The court was also asked to consider whether sufficient warnings were given to the jury regarding the evidence and whether the verdicts were unreasonable and unsupported by the evidence.

The Full Court allowed the appeal on the ground that the trial judge had misdirected the jury by stating that the two charges "do stand or fall together." The court found this direction to be an error in law, as it failed to allow the jury to consider each count independently based on the evidence presented for each. While the court acknowledged that the trial judge's summing up was otherwise concise and correct in all other respects, this specific misdirection necessitated a re-trial. All other grounds of appeal were dismissed.