Yunupingu v The Queen

The appeal in *Yunupingu v The Queen* was heard by the Court of Criminal Appeal of the Northern Territory, comprising Martin (BR) CJ, Angel and Thomas JJ. The appellant, Yunupingu, was convicted of attempted sexual assault. The central dispute on appeal concerned whether the jury's verdict was unsafe or unsatisfactory, specifically in relation to the issue of the identity of the attackers.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether, on the evidence presented at trial, it was open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant was one of the individuals who attempted to sexually assault the complainant. This required the Court to scrutinise the evidence relating to identification and assess its reliability in the context of the overall case.

The Court reasoned that the evidence of identification was not sufficiently strong to support a conviction beyond reasonable doubt. The complainant's identification of the appellant was made under circumstances that raised significant doubts about its accuracy. The Court concluded that, given the weaknesses in the identification evidence and the lack of corroborating material, there was a real risk that the jury had convicted the appellant on insufficient grounds. Consequently, the Court allowed the appeal, quashed the conviction, and ordered a new trial.