R v Riley, Christopher [2020] NSWCCA 283

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: R v Riley, Christopher [2020] NSWCCA 283 Hearing dates: 13 May 2020 Decision date: 04 November 2020 Before: Bathurst CJ at [1]; Button J at [134]; Wilson J at [139] Decision: (1) Appeal allowed. (2) Set aside the ruling of Baly SC DCJ of 3 December 2019 excluding the evidence of the FASS analyst Mr Brett Fletcher and that of Dr Judith Perl. (3) Declare that the evidence of Mr Fletcher and Dr Perl is admissible in these proceedings. Catchwords: APPEALS – nature of appeal – nature of appellate review of a decision under s 138 of the Evidence Act – House v The King type judicial restraint EVIDENCE – exclusion of evidence – improperly or illegally obtained evidence – s 138 of the Evidence Act – probative value – reliability – evidence taken at its highest Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) Road Transport Act 2013 (NSW) Cases Cited: AW v R [2009] NSWCCA 1 BM v R [2017] NSWCCA 253 Brown v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) [2018] NSWCCA 94 Bunning v Cross (1978) 141 CLR 54; [1978] HCA 22 CA v R [2017] NSWCCA 324 Coal and Allied Operations Pty Ltd v Australian Industrial Relations Commission (2000) 203 CLR 194; [2000] HCA 47 DAO v R (2011) 81 NSWLR 568; [2011] NSWCCA 63 Director of Public Prosecutions v Marijancevic (2011) 33 VR 440; [2011] VSCA 355 Director of Public Prosecutions v MD (2010) 29 VR 434; [2010] VSCA 233 Dwyer v Calco Timbers Pty Ltd (2008) 234 CLR 124; [2008] HCA 13 Em v The Queen (2007) 232 CLR 67; [2007] HCA 46 Fleming v R [2009] NSWCCA 233; 197 A Crim R 282 House v The King (1936) 55 CLR 499; [1936] HCA 40 IMM v The Queen (2016) 257 CLR 300; [2016] HCA 14 Kadir v The Queen [2020] HCA 1; (2020) 94 ALJR 168 Karam v R [2015] VSCA 50 McCartney v R (2012) 38 VR 1; [2012] VSCA 268 Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v SZVFW (2018) 264 CLR 541; [2018] HCA 30 Murdoch v R (2013) 40 VR 451; [2013] VSCA 272 Norbis v Norbis (1986) 161 CLR 513; [1986] HCA 17 Norvenska v Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions [2007] NSWCCA 158 R v Ali [2015] NSWCCA 72 R v Arvidson [2008] NSWCCA 135; 185 A Crim R 428 R v Blick [2000] NSWCCA; 111 A Crim R 326 R v Camilleri (2007) 68 NSWLR 720; [2007] NSWCCA 36 R v Dickman (2017) 261 CLR 601; [2017] HCA 24 R v Fletcher [2005] NSWCCA 338; 156 A Crim R 308 R v GM (2016) 97 NSWLR 706; [2016] NSWCCA 78 R v Grech; R v Kadir [2017] NSWCCA 288 R v Rapolti [2016] NSWCCA 264; 317 FLR 79 Riley v R [2011] NSWCCA 238 Slater v R [2019] VSCA 213 The Queen v Bauer (2018) 266 CLR 56; [2018] HCA 40 Vickers v R [2006] NSWCCA 60; 160 A Crim R 195 Warren v Coombes (1979) 142 CLR 531; [1979] HCA 9 Texts Cited: Stephen Odgers, Uniform Evidence Law (15th ed, 2020, Thomson Reuters) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Director of Public Prosecutions (Appellant) Christopher Riley (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: H Roberts with B Baker (Appellant) B Rigg SC with T Quilter and C Mitchell (Respondent)