Jones v The Queen [1989] HCA 16

High Court of Australia Mason C.J. Brennan, Deane, Dawson and Toohey JJ. Jones v The Queen [1989] HCA 16

ORDER Application for special leave to appeal granted. Appeal allowed in part. Set aside so much of the order of the Court of Criminal Appeal as directs that there be a new trial and remit the matter to that Court to complete the hearing and determination of the appeal to that Court. Vary the order for bail made by the Court of Criminal Appeal by requiring the applicant to appear for retrial at a date to be fixed by the Criminal Court at Hobart unless the Court of Criminal Appeal shall order that verdicts of acquittal be entered.

Cur. adv. vult.

The following written judgments were delivered:—

March 1 Mason C.J., Brennan, Dawson and Toohey JJ.

The applicant was charged on indictment in the Supreme Court of Tasmania on five counts. After a trial before Neasey J. and a jury he was convicted on three of those counts, namely, unnatural carnal knowledge of his daughter A; common assault of A during the commission of the first-mentioned offence; and indecent assault of another daughter B. The trial on these and other counts in the indictment proceeded together over the objection of counsel for the applicant.

On appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal in Tasmania a number of grounds were argued. The Court of Criminal Appeal allowed the appeal, quashed the convictions and ordered a retrial. The applicant seeks special leave to appeal from that part of the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeal which orders that the applicant be retried. This Court invited the parties to address themselves first to ground 14 of the applicant's proposed notice of appeal which raises a supposed failure on the part of the Court of Criminal Appeal to hear and determine grounds of appeal which were argued before it and which, if accepted, would have entitled the applicant to a verdict of acquittal to be entered pursuant to s. 402(3) of the Criminal Code Tas.