R v Bowie (No 3) [2022] NSWSC 1504

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Bowie (No 3) [2022] NSWSC 1504 Hearing dates: 17 October 2022 Date of orders: 17 October 2022 Decision date: 04 November 2022 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Yehia J Decision: (1) I refuse the application to exclude further evidence of the witness Corale Komene pursuant to s 13 of the Evidence Act. (2) Pursuant to s 32 of the Evidence Act, I grant leave to the witness Corale Komene to refresh her memory in respect of paragraph 6 of her statement, dated 03/04/2019. (3) I refuse leave to have the witness Corale Komene refresh her memory from paragraph 21 of her statement, dated 03/04/2019. (4) I find that the evidence of the witness identification of the signet ring from a photograph shown to her in 2019 is admissible. (5) I am not satisfied that the in-court identification of MFI 80 as belonging to Roxlyn is admissible. Catchwords: EVIDENCE – Whether the witness lacks the capacity to give evidence – Absence of evidence that the witness is mentally, intellectually or physically disabled – Relevance of "in-court" recognition of an inanimate object in circumstances where the witness has already recognised the object in a single photograph shown to her by police – Risk of displacement effect Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) ss 32(2)(b)(ii), 55, 97, 137, 138 Cases Cited: IMM v The Queen [2016] HCA 14; 257 CLR 300 Parker v Comptroller-General of Customs [2009] HCA 7; 83 ALJR 494 R v Meyn, John Michael (No 1) [2012] NSWSC 1141 Robinson v Woolworths Ltd [2005] NSWCCA 426; 64 NSWLR 612 Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Rex (Crown) John Douglas Bowie (Accused) Representation: Counsel: A Morris (Crown) W Terracini SC (Accused)