Pepene v The Queen

The case of Pepene v The Queen involved a criminal proceeding where the Crown sought to introduce further evidence after the defence had closed its case. The defendant, Pepene, was on trial for a serious offence, and the Crown's application was to present conversations between Pepene and a witness, Ms Greaves. The Crown argued that these conversations were critical to demonstrating the unreliability of the defence witnesses, and to showing Pepene's consciousness of guilt. The judge, French J, had to decide whether the Crown's application to introduce this further evidence should be granted under section 98 of the relevant Act.

The primary legal issue for the court was whether the conversations between Pepene and Ms Greaves met the criteria under section 98(3)(c) and (d) for the admission of further evidence. This required the court to consider whether the conversations were not available or admissible before the prosecution's case was closed, or if for any other reason, the interests of justice required the evidence to be admitted. The defence argued that the conversations were not sinister and did not add anything to the case, especially concerning the central issue of Pepene's intent.

French J concluded that the conversations went beyond mere exhortations to tell the truth and were probative of the veracity of both Pepene and his witnesses. The Judge found that there were "exceptional circumstances" that justified admitting the conversations under section 98(3)(c) and (d). Although some parts of the conversations were ambiguous, others were compelling and relevant to the trial's outcome. The Judge was satisfied that the evidence was important enough to justify admitting it despite the potential prolongation of the trial. The interests of justice required that the jury hear this evidence.

The final orders of the court were that permission was granted for the Crown to introduce the conversations between Pepene and Ms Greaves as evidence. This decision allowed the Crown to present its case more fully and for the jury to consider all relevant evidence in determining Pepene's guilt or innocence.