Thompson v The Queen

The appeal was brought by the appellant against his conviction. The dispute concerned alleged errors made by the trial judge in admitting certain evidence during the trial. The appeal was heard by Murrell CJ, Mossop and Bromwich JJ of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge erred in granting the Crown leave to cross-examine a witness, Mr Jason Atherton, pursuant to section 38 of the *Evidence Act 2011* (ACT). The appellant also asserted error in the trial judge's decision to grant leave to recall Mr Atherton under section 46 of the *Evidence Act*.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. The Court reasoned that the trial judge had not erred in granting leave under section 38 of the *Evidence Act* to cross-examine Mr Atherton on specific inconsistencies between his oral evidence and his prior statement to police. While the appellant's trial counsel had objected to leave being granted on grounds of credibility, they did not object to leave being granted in respect of the identified inconsistencies. The Court also noted that the appellant had abandoned several grounds of appeal during the hearing, and leave to rely on another ground was refused as no direction under section 165 of the *Evidence Act* had been sought at trial. The remaining grounds, including those relating to section 38 and section 46, were ultimately not found to be grounds for appeal.