R v Daniel

The appellant, R, was convicted of rape under s 48 of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935. The charge alleged that the appellant had vaginal sexual intercourse with the complainant without her consent on 15 September 2007. The appeal was heard by Sulan, Anderson, and David JJ.

The grounds of appeal raised several issues concerning the trial judge's directions to the jury. These included whether the judge adequately directed the jury on the onus of proof, particularly in relation to the consequences of rejecting the appellant's evidence. Further grounds concerned the adequacy of directions on the third element of the offence of rape within the prosecution's case, the evidence of intoxication (specifically the complainant's intoxication), and why the jury should scrutinise the complainant's version of events closely. The appellant also argued that the jury's verdict was unreasonable or insupportable.

The appellate court found that the trial judge failed to give sufficient directions regarding the complainant's state of intoxication and its relevance to the reliability of her evidence. The judge's direction, which focused on the complainant potentially losing inhibitions but forgetting or being unwilling to admit her conduct, was deemed insufficient. Furthermore, the court held that the judge did not adequately direct the jury on how to approach their task if they did not accept the appellant's evidence. These failures were considered sufficient to constitute a miscarriage of justice.

Consequently, the appeal was allowed, the conviction was set aside, and an order for a retrial was made.