Read the full judgment text of CACC 000610/1994 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 28 November 1995 before Yang CJ, Power VP, Sears J.
Criminal law – robbery – appeal against conviction – weight of good character evidence – propensity limb – whether trial judge erred in discounting good character because most robberies are committed by young men in groups, some of good character – held: fatal error – good character is always relevant to both credibility and propensity – judge should not have neutralised its weight on propensity by reference to general statistical tendencies – confession played crucial role in conviction – conviction quashed, sentence set aside, retrial ordered in light of strong evidence against applicant.
Legal issues: Proper use of good character evidence on propensity in robbery cases involving young offenders in groups
Outcome: Appeal against conviction allowed; conviction quashed; sentence set aside; retrial ordered.