R v Stokes

Case [2000] NTSC 12

R and Stokes [2000] NTSC 12

PARTIES:THE QUEEN

and

TREVOR JOHN STOKES

TITLE OF COURT:  SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY

JURISDICTION:  SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY EXERCISING TERRITORY JURISDICTION

FILE NO:SCC9919706

DELIVERED:  16 March 2000

HEARING DATES:  8 March 2000

JUDGMENT OF:  MILDREN J

CATCHWORDS:

REPRESENTATION:

Counsel:

Crown:Rex Wild, QC with J Martin

Defendant:Jon Tippett

Solicitors:

Crown:Director of Public Prosecutions

Defendant:Dalrymple and Associates

Judgment category classification:    C

Judgment ID Number:  

Number of pages:  20

IN THE SUPREME COURT
OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY
OF AUSTRALIA
AT DARWIN

R and Stokes [2000] NTSC 12

No. SCC9919706

BETWEEN:

THE QUEEN

Crown

AND:

TREVOR JOHN STOKES

Defendant

CORAM:    MILDREN J

REASONS FOR RULING

(Delivered 16 March 2000)

Mildren J:

  1. This is an application pursuant to s26L of the Evidence Act to determine the admissibility of certain DNA evidence which the Crown wishes to lead at the trial of the accused for murder.

    Factual Background

  2. For the purposes of this ruling, I am asked to assume that the Crown will call evidence at the trial to the following effect:

    (1)The deceased victim, Greg Bebensee, (Bebensee) arrived in Darwin from Karratha, Western Australia, in early May 1999.  He had travelled to Darwin in the company of a young woman but they obtained separate accommodation once they reached Darwin.  Bebensee became employed.

    (2)The accused (Stokes) and his friend Lee McLaughlin (McLaughlin) had come to Australia from Asia at the beginning of May, landing in Darwin.  They were both graduates of an English university, although nationals of Northern Ireland.  They had known each other at university and again had flatted together in Singapore where they both worked as civil engineers.  After some year or so in Singapore working they travelled for a month or so in Asia, before arriving in Australia.  Having been in Darwin for a short time, they purchased a motor vehicle, travelled to northern Australia and camped and worked in the Kununurra district before returning to Darwin at the end of May 1999.

    (3)Bebensee arranged to meet friends on the evening of Saturday 5 June 1999.  He used his Eftpos card at about 9.25 p.m. that evening at the Central Supermarket, Smith Street (a receipt was in his wallet) and then met two friends near the Top End Hotel.  They spent an hour or two at Squires and then arrived at the Victoria Hotel shortly prior to midnight.  Bebensee left in the early hours of Sunday 6 June 1999.  The video at the Victoria Hotel shows him leaving the upstairs part of the premises at 2.09 a.m. and he had probably left the vicinity of the hotel shortly after 2.17 a.m.  At 3.30 a.m. he was seen lying at the end of Packard Place, Larrakeyah, where he was later found at 6.00 a.m. to be deceased.

    (4)The deceased was found lying on his left side.  He had apparently been attacked with an instrument, such as a half axe camping tool, which had caused his death.  The deceased was wearing inter alia jeans…

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AGLC
R v Stokes [2000] NTSC 12
Case
[2000] NTSC 12
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case of R v Stokes concerns the admissibility of DNA evidence in a murder trial. The accused, Stokes, stands charged with the murder of Greg Bebensee. The court's task was to determine whether certain DNA evidence, which the Crown intended to present, was admissible under s26L of the Evidence Act. This provision addresses the admissibility of evidence of a sexual connection between the accused and another person, which is relevant to the proceedings.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the DNA evidence, which was obtained from a sample taken from the deceased's clothing, could be admitted as evidence under the relevant section of the Evidence Act. Specifically, the court needed to consider whether the evidence was relevant to the proceedings, and if so, whether its probative value outweighed any prejudicial effect it might have. The court also had to consider whether the evidence met the criteria for admissibility under s26L, including the relevance of the evidence to the issue of whether the accused had a sexual connection with the deceased.

The court found that the DNA evidence was indeed relevant to the proceedings and that its probative value outweighed any prejudicial effect it might have. The court determined that the evidence of a sexual connection between the accused and the deceased was relevant to the issue of identity and motive in the murder case. The court also found that the evidence met the criteria for admissibility under s26L, as it was necessary to explain or make sense of other evidence in the case. The court concluded that the DNA evidence was admissible, as it was relevant to the issue of whether the accused had a sexual connection with the deceased, which was a matter of significance in the case.

The court ordered that the DNA evidence be admitted as evidence in the trial of the accused for murder. This decision was based on the court's finding that the evidence was relevant to the proceedings, had probative value, and met the criteria for admissibility under s26L of the Evidence Act. The court's ruling allows the Crown to present the DNA evidence at the trial, which may assist in establishing the accused's identity as the perpetrator of the crime.

Orders

Orders of the court

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Background

Background to the litigation

This is an application pursuant to s26L of the Evidence Act to determine the admissibility of certain DNA evidence which the Crown wishes to lead at the trial of the accused for murder.Factual Background For the purposes of this ruling, I am asked to assume that the Crown will call evidence at the trial to the following effect:(1)The deceased victim, Greg Bebensee, (Bebensee) arrived in Darwin from Karratha, Western Australia, in early May 1999. He had travelled to Darwin in the company of a young woman but they obtained separate accommodation once they reached Darwin. Bebensee became employed.(2)The accused (Stokes) and his friend Lee McLaughlin (McLaughlin) had come to Australia from Asia at the beginning of May, landing in Darwin. They were both graduates of an English university, although nationals of Northern Ireland. They had known each other at university and again had flatted together in Singapore where they both worked as civil engineers. After some year or so in Singapore working they travelled for a month or so in Asia, before arriving in Australia. Having been in Darwin for a short time, they purchased a motor vehicle, travelled to northern Australia and camped and worked in the Kununurra district before returning to Darwin at the end of May 1999.(3)Bebensee arranged to meet friends on the evening of Saturday 5 June 1999. He used his Eftpos card at about 9.25 p.m. that evening at the Central Supermarket, Smith Street (a receipt was in his wallet) and then met two friends near the Top End Hotel. They spent an hour or two at Squires and then arrived at the Victoria Hotel shortly prior to midnight. Bebensee left in the early hours of Sunday 6 June 1999. The video at the Victoria Hotel shows him leaving the upstairs part of the premises at 2.09 a.m. and he had probably left the vicinity of the hotel shortly after 2.17 a.m. At 3.30 a.m. he was seen lying at the end of Packard Place, Larrakeyah, where he was later found at 6.00 a.m. to be deceased.(4)The deceased was found lying on his left side. He had apparently been attacked with an instrument, such as a half axe camping tool, which had caused his death. The deceased was wearing inter alia jeans and a belt, attached to which was a ring similar to a keyring. The deceased's wallet was usually attached to this ring by a chain. The wallet and chain were missing. The deceased usually kept his wallet in his right hip pocket. The inside lining of the right front pocket was found half pulled out. Samples were taken from inter alia the outer edge of the right pocket and from an area of soiling below the pocket edge for DNA sampling.(5)On 5 June 1999, Stokes and McLaughlin were staying at the Shady Glen Caravan Park in Winnellie and had travelled into the Darwin City area in McLaughlin's yellow Ford station wagon, the use of which they shared, and in the spare wheel compartment of which was usually kept a half axe camping tool.(6)Stokes, together with McLaughlin and two acquaintances from the Shady Glen Caravan Park, were drinking together at the Shenannigans Pub on Mitchell Street in the late evening of Saturday 5 June 1999. The names of the acquaintances were Chris Cathcart and Scott Cathcart. McLaughlin left some time before the Shenannigans closing time of 2.00 a.m. and caught a taxi back to the Caravan Park. Scott Cathcart also left Shenannigans before closing time and on arrival at the Caravan Park saw McLaughlin talking to some people at a nearby area of the Caravan Park. McLaughlin came over to his campsite (which was next to the site shared by Stokes and McLaughlin) and after a brief conversation between Scott Cathcart and McLaughlin, McLaughlin returned to his conversation with the (unidentified) people in the caravan park. Scott Cathcart went to sleep and at some stage later he woke up to see that the yellow station wagon had returned and that Stokes was sitting on the tailgate smoking a cigarette. McLaughlin does not agree that he had these discussions but says that he was talking to the taxi driver who dropped him off. (7)Prior to closing time in Shenannigans, while Chris Cathcart was talking to two Australian girls he had met there, Stokes approached him on two occasions and asked him to help him "roll" another individual (not identified to Chris Cathcart and not alleged to be Bebensee) said by Stokes to be present in Shenannigans.(8)At closing time in Shenannigans, Chris Cathcart walked up Mitchell Street towards Kitty O'Sheas Pub together with the two Australian girls he had met in Shenannigans. He separated from Stokes and saw him walking along Mitchell Street in the other direction, towards where the yellow station wagon had been parked and in the company of an English girl that Stokes had met in Shenannigans. Chris Cathcart spent some time in town with the Australian girls (at Kitty O'Sheas and then having coffee) and then got a lift with them to the caravan park, arriving at about 3.30 a.m. At that time the yellow station wagon was parked back at the camping site used by Stokes and McLaughlin.(9)McLaughlin's story is that he was awoken by Stokes on his return from town. Stokes told McLaughlin he had just killed a man in town, using the half axe tool. He produced this and Bebensee's wallet. McLaughlin did not believe him, but did after seeing Monday morning's paper.(10)On 7 June 1999, Stokes and McLaughlin left Darwin and drove to Gregory National Park via Katherine. According to McLaughlin, they stopped at Howard Springs to hide the wallet and north of Katherine to throw the half axe into the scrub. They sold some of their personal gear in Katherine as they were nearly broke. They stayed overnight in Katherine and then drove to Kununurra the next day. They both found work on a melon farm just outside of Kununurra and stayed working there for about two months. They then travelled together to Broome. (11)On the evening of 26 August 1999, McLaughlin sought assistance for anxiety at the Broome Hospital and then later attended at the Broome Police Station. He told police officers at the Broome Police Station that Stokes had confessed to him in the early hours of 6 June 1999 of having killed someone earlier that morning. McLaughlin was taken to the Northern Territory the next day by Northern Territory police and over ensuing days, provided information about things Stokes had said and done since the early hours of 6 June 1999.(12)McLaughlin took the police to a location near the Howard Springs Nature Park where Bebensee's wallet (containing various identifying cards and papers) was found and told police that he had hidden the wallet there in Stokes' presence on the morning of 7 June 1999. The chain was found attached to the wallet.(13)McLaughlin also took the police to an area by the Stuart Highway about fifty kilometres north of Katherine, where he said Stokes had thrown away, in his presence on 7 June 1999, the half axe tool usually kept in the yellow station wagon. He told police that this implement had been thrown away because it was the weapon that Stokes had confessed to using in the attack by him in the early hours of 6 June 1999. The tool, despite intensive police searches, has not been found.(14)The injuries found on Bebensee are consistent with having been inflicted by a half axe tool.(15)When questioned by Northern Territory police in Broome on 27 August 1999 after his arrest there by Western Australia police, Stokes said he did not have any knowledge of the offence and that he had "no recollection" of the confession alleged by McLaughlin.

Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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