R v Surrey

In the case of R v Surrey, the appellant was convicted of two counts of murder and one count of interfering with a corpse. All counts were tried on the same indictment without an application by counsel for reconsideration of the joinder. The appellant appealed on several grounds, including the trial judge's failure to make a late order separating the trials, a "micro-Weissensteiner" direction on the appellant's silence, an Edwards direction regarding deliberate lies showing consciousness of guilt, and the admission of identification evidence from a witness. The court was required to determine whether these errors led to a miscarriage of justice, whether the jury would have returned the same verdict, and whether the admission of evidence was proper.

The court considered whether the trial judge should have separated the trials to avoid a miscarriage of justice. The court found that the trial judge did not err in not separating the trials, as the appellant did not demonstrate that a separate trial was necessary to avoid a miscarriage of justice. Regarding the "micro-Weissensteiner" direction, the court held that the direction was not improper, as it did not suggest to the jury that the appellant's silence was an admission of guilt. The Edwards direction was also found to be proper, as it did not misdirect the jury on the significance of deliberate lies showing consciousness of guilt. Lastly, the court found that the witness' identification evidence was properly admitted, as the opinion of the witness was not inadmissible as evidence.

The appeal was dismissed, and the convictions were upheld. The court found no errors that would have caused a miscarriage of justice, and the trial judge's directions and the admission of evidence were proper. The appellant's convictions on all counts were therefore affirmed.