R v Moores

The appellant, R v Moores, appealed against convictions on several grounds, including the admission of evidence of conversations between the complainant and two individuals, R and D, which the appellant argued did not constitute a "complaint" under section 34M of the *Evidence Act 1929* (SA). The appeal also raised issues concerning the adequacy of the trial judge's directions to the jury regarding complaint evidence, subsequent text messages, discreditable conduct, intoxication, the meaning of harm and intent for a specific count, and the potential use of not guilty verdicts on some counts in relation to others. The appellant further contended that the verdicts were unreasonable and unsupported by the evidence.

The central legal issues before the court were whether the complainant's statements to R and D qualified as admissible "complaints" of a sexual offence under section 34M of the *Evidence Act 1929* (SA), and whether the trial judge's directions to the jury on various evidentiary matters, including the admissibility and use of complaint evidence, intoxication, and the implications of prior verdicts, were adequate and free from error. The court also considered whether the verdicts returned by the jury were unreasonable.

The court found no merit in the ground of appeal concerning the admissibility of the complaint evidence, noting that no objection was made at trial on the specific ground that the statements did not constitute a complaint of a sexual offence. It was held that a forensic decision likely led to this failure to object, and the appellant was generally bound by the case run at trial. The court also considered other grounds of appeal, granting permission to appeal on some and refusing it on others, ultimately dismissing the appeal.