Wright v State of Western Australia

[2011] HCATrans 169

[2011] HCATrans 169

IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Office of the Registry
  Perth   No P47 of 2010

B e t w e e n -

DANNIE ADAM WRIGHT

Applicant

and

STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Respondent

Application for special leave to appeal

CRENNAN J
KIEFEL J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

FROM MELBOURNE BY VIDEO LINK TO PERTH

ON FRIDAY, 10 JUNE 2011, AT 2.52 PM

Copyright in the High Court of Australia

MR A.C. McINTOSH:   If it please the Court, I appear for the applicant.  (instructed by Thames Legal)

MR B. FIANNACA, SC:   If the Court please, I appear with my learned friend, MS L.E. CHRISTIAN, for the respondent.  (instructed by Director of Public Prosecutions (WA))

MR McINTOSH:   Your Honours, I do not wish to advance any oral argument and I rest the case on written submissions before you.

CRENNAN J:   Very well.

MR McINTOSH:   Thank you.

CRENNAN J:   Is that the position also for you?

MR FIANNACA:   Your Honours, I suppose from our perspective ‑ ‑ ‑

CRENNAN J:   It was not clear whether Mr McIntosh was speaking on behalf of everybody or not.

MR FIANNACA:   No, he was not, but as we indicated in our written submissions – in our summary of argument, we would only wish to advance oral argument if there was oral argument advanced on behalf of the applicant.

CRENNAN J:   Yes.

MR FIANNACA:   So in those circumstances, your Honours, unless there are any particular questions relating to our summary of argument, I do not have any submissions to make at this stage.

CRENNAN J:   Thank you.  Very well, Mr Fiannaca.

The application concerns an appeal against conviction for murder and sexual penetration without consent. The Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Western Australia (McLure P, Buss JA and Blaxell J) dismissed the applicant’s appeal against conviction, relevantly, on the issue of whether video‑recorded evidence of a police interview with the applicant should have been excluded from the trial pursuant to sections 138(3) and 154 of the Criminal Investigation Act 2006 (WA) and/or in the exercise of common law discretion to exclude evidence otherwise admissible.

We are not persuaded that the application has sufficient prospects of success to warrant a grant of special leave.  A grant of special leave to appeal would not be in the interests of justice, either generally or in this particular case.  Special leave to appeal is refused.

AT 2.55 PM THE MATTER WAS CONCLUDED