R v Johnston

The accused, Johnston, was charged with multiple counts of sexual offences, and the matter came before the court for a severance application. The applicant argued that the risk of prejudice to the accused if the counts were tried together was high, and that trying the counts together would prejudice or embarrass the accused's defence. The applicant also argued that there was a high risk of misuse of evidence, and that the risk could not be cured by direction. The applicant further argued that the severance would not cause any significant impracticality as the evidence could be separated.

The court considered the legal issues it was required to decide, which included whether trying the counts together would prejudice or embarrass the accused's defence, whether there was a real risk of the jury engaging in propensity reasoning, and whether the risk could be cured by direction. The court also considered whether the severance would cause any significant impracticality.

The court found that there was a high risk of prejudice to the accused if the counts were tried together, and that trying the counts together would prejudice or embarrass the accused's defence. The court also found that there was a real risk of the jury engaging in propensity reasoning, and that the risk could not be cured by direction. The court further found that the severance would not cause any significant impracticality as the evidence could be separated. The court allowed the application and severed the indictment into two trials.

The court ordered that the first trial would be for the counts that occurred on the first occasion, and the second trial would be for the counts that occurred on the second occasion. The court also ordered that the evidence of the complainant would be given in the first trial, and that the evidence of the accused would be given in the second trial. The court further ordered that the accused would be acquitted of the counts that were severed.