Sondhi v The King

The applicant, who had been convicted of five counts of rape, sought leave to appeal against his conviction. The complainant alleged that the offences occurred between January and March 2021, following the birth of the couple's child. The applicant's defence at trial was that he did not commit the alleged acts of rape, with his position on some counts being that no sexual activity occurred, and on others, his denial was less clear. Credibility was also a central issue, particularly concerning the complainant's initial complaint about the first alleged offence, which the applicant claimed was fabricated.

The legal issues before the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia concerned whether the trial judge had adequately considered the complainant's reliability and credibility, particularly in light of inconsistencies in her evidence. Specifically, the applicant argued that the trial judge failed to properly engage with the question of reliability when addressing an inconsistency in the complainant's evidence regarding the date of the first alleged offence. The court was also required to consider the admissibility and use of the complainant's initial complaint to her brother as evidence.

The Full Court granted permission to appeal but ultimately dismissed the appeal. The court found that the trial judge's finding that the complainant's inconsistency regarding the date of the first offence did not affect her reliability or credibility was open to the judge on the evidence. The judge had correctly noted that the complainant remained consistent about the incident occurring on the day of her child's first doctor's appointment. Therefore, the court rejected the applicant's submission that this demonstrated a failure by the trial judge to properly engage with the question of reliability.