R v Taylor CA132/06

In the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, the applicant, Arthur William Taylor, sought leave to appeal against a ruling by Goddard J, who dismissed his applications for the exclusion of evidence from a proposed Crown witness and for severance of his trial from that of his co-accused, Ms Jameson. The Court of Appeal granted leave to appeal but dismissed the appeal. The applicant and his co-accused, Ms Jameson and Mr Royal, are jointly charged with various offences related to an attempted escape from lawful custody. The applicant sought to exclude evidence from a proposed Crown witness, Mr Joblin, and to sever his trial from that of Ms Jameson. The Court of Appeal considered the admissibility of evidence and the application for severance separately. Regarding the admissibility of evidence, the Court held that the Crown was entitled to prove a prior association between the applicant and Mr Royal, but the trial Judge would have discretion to ensure no unfair prejudice to the applicant. Concerning the severance application, the Court held that severance could be granted where an accused wishes to call a co-accused to give evidence for the defence, provided that there is a reasonable possibility that the co-accused will give evidence and that the evidence could affect the verdict in a manner favourable to the accused seeking severance. In this case, the applicant did not demonstrate that there was a reasonable possibility that Ms Jameson would give evidence, nor did he indicate what the nature of her evidence would be so as to establish that there was a reasonable possibility that the evidence could affect the verdict in his favour. Therefore, the Court held that no case had been made out for severance.