R v Turnbull (No. 5)

In the case of R v Turnbull, the defendant, Turnbull, was facing trial for the murder of the deceased, who was his partner. The nature of the dispute involved whether the partial defence of extreme provocation was available to Turnbull and whether the deceased's alleged conduct could be considered a serious indictable offence under the Crimes Act 1900 and the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007. The court also considered the relevance of tendency evidence that the defence sought to introduce regarding the deceased.

The legal issues the court needed to decide were whether the alleged conduct of the deceased constituted a serious indictable offence for the purposes of the partial defence of extreme provocation and whether the evidence the defence wished to adduce regarding the deceased's tendency to act in a particular way had sufficient probative value and relevance to be admitted. Furthermore, the court examined the impact of the Crimes Amendment (Provocation) Act 2014 on the available defences.

The court determined that the deceased's conduct, which involved investigations into alleged land clearing contrary to the Native Vegetation Act 2003, could amount to a serious indictable offence. The court also found that the tendency evidence sought by the defence was relevant and had significant probative value, allowing it to be admitted. Consequently, the court ruled in favour of Turnbull, admitting the evidence and allowing the partial defence of extreme provocation to be considered at trial.

The final orders were that the partial defence of extreme provocation would be allowed to proceed to trial, and the defence's tendency evidence would be admitted, subject to the court's discretion on its relevance and probative value.