Read the full judgment text of CACC 000291/1993 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 1 February 1994 before Yang CJ, Macdougall V-P, Bokhary JA.
Criminal law – possession of dangerous drug for unlawful trafficking – appeal against conviction – judge's direction to jury – accused's motive to lie – presumption of innocence – fair trial – misdirection – Broadhurst direction not required – conviction quashed – retrial ordered. The applicant was convicted of possessing 338.02g of a mixture containing 132.79g morphine salts for trafficking. On appeal, she argued that the trial judge's direction that she, as the accused, had every motive to lie and it was to her advantage to lie undermined the presumption of innocence. The Court of Appeal held that this direction effectively deprived the applicant of a fair trial by suggesting her evidence was suspect solely because she was the accused. The court adopted the reasoning in R. v. Robinson (55 A Crim. R 318) that such a direction strikes at the notion of a fair trial. The court also found no need for a Broadhurst direction. Leave to appeal was granted, the appeal allowed, the conviction quashed, and a retrial ordered.
Legal issues: Judge's direction on accused's motive to lie
Outcome: Leave to appeal granted; appeal allowed; conviction quashed; retrial ordered.