R v T (CA255/05)

T was convicted in the District Court at Christchurch of four charges of indecent assault and sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection of a girl under 12 years of age. T appealed against his conviction on the basis that there was a miscarriage of justice due to inappropriate questioning and submission by the prosecutor and material misdirection by the trial Judge, which undermined the appellant's right to silence; inadequate directions as to onus of proof; and material misdirection by the trial Judge as to the relevance of recent complaint evidence. The Court of Appeal held that the appeal must succeed on the first ground alone, finding that the right to silence had been breached. The Court found that the prosecution attempted to undermine the appellant's exercise of the right to silence by submitting to the jury that the appellant did not need to know what allegations had been made against him because he already knew what they were. This was unacceptable and amounted to a breach of the appellant's rights. The Court quashed the convictions and ordered a new trial.