Rich v Warburton

The appeal in *Rich v Warburton* concerned a motor vehicle accident. The primary dispute revolved around findings made by the trial judge which the appellant argued were inconsistent with incontrovertible objective evidence. The matter was heard in the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the findings of fact made by the trial judge were demonstrably wrong, specifically in light of objective evidence that appeared to contradict those findings. This required the appellate court to scrutinise the trial judge's assessment of the evidence and determine if it had erred in its factual conclusions.

The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge's findings were indeed inconsistent with the objective evidence. Applying principles of appellate review, the Court determined that where factual findings are demonstrably at odds with incontrovertible objective evidence, an appellate court is entitled to set aside those findings. The Court allowed the appeal, setting aside the orders and verdict from the court below. In their place, the Court entered judgment and a verdict for the defendant, ordering the respondent to pay the appellant's costs and to have an order under the Suitors Fund Act if otherwise entitled.