SPC v The Queen

The appeal before the Supreme Court of South Australia concerned an appellant convicted of criminal offences. The appeal was brought by the appellant against the verdict of the jury.

The legal issues before the Court were whether the jury's verdict on count 8 was unreasonable or unsupported by the evidence, and whether there had been a misdirection or non-direction by the trial judge regarding the use of evidence of discreditable conduct.

The Court dismissed the appeal. Kourakis CJ found that the verdict on count 8 was amply supported by the evidence of Ms X, and that there was no evidentiary matter capable of raising a doubt as to the appellant's guilt that the jury could not have dissipated through their evaluation of Ms X's testimony. Nicholson and Bampton JJ agreed with the Chief Justice's reasons for dismissing the appeal on the unreasonable verdict ground. They also addressed the ground of appeal concerning the use of discreditable conduct evidence, noting that while a judge must explain the permissible uses of such evidence under section 34P of the *Evidence Act 1929* (SA), any failure to identify all possible permissible uses, in this instance, did not prejudice the appellant, as the judge had clearly directed the jury on both permissible and impermissible uses.