TI v The Queen

The Court of Appeal of the Australian Capital Territory, constituted by Penfold, Burns and North JJ, heard an appeal by the applicant, TI, who had been convicted by a jury of an act of indecency on a young person. The appeal concerned whether a miscarriage of justice had occurred at trial.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge’s failure to provide a warning to the jury regarding the complainant’s evidence, and the absence of a direction concerning opinion evidence, constituted a miscarriage of justice. Additionally, the Court considered whether the jury’s verdicts were unreasonable and unsupported by the evidence. The applicant also sought leave to argue further grounds of appeal pursuant to rule 5531 of the Court Procedures Rules 2006 (ACT).

The Court of Appeal determined that no miscarriage of justice had occurred. It found that the grounds of appeal relating to the absence of a warning and a direction on opinion evidence were without merit. Furthermore, the Court concluded that the verdicts returned by the jury were reasonable and adequately supported by the evidence presented at trial. Consequently, leave to argue the additional grounds was refused.

Leave to argue grounds 1 and 2 of the appeal was refused under rule 5531 of the Court Procedures Rules 2006 (ACT), and the appeal was dismissed.