REGINA v MURRE [2001] NSWCCA 286

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal

CITATION : REGINA v MURRE [2001] NSWCCA 286 FILE NUMBER(S) : CCA 60454/00 HEARING DATE(S) : 4 July 2001 JUDGMENT DATE : 27 July 2001

Regina

PARTIES : v

Michael Anton MURRE JUDGMENT OF : Giles JA at 1; Hulme J at 2; Adams J at 3

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : District Court LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : 98/11/0593 LOWER COURT JUDICIAL Sides DCJ OFFICER :

COUNSEL : Mr P R Boulten (Appellant) Mr M C Grogan (Crown) SOLICITORS : Greg Walsh & Co (Appellant) S E O'Connor (Crown) CATCHWORDS : Sexual assault - complaint to police 25 years later - appropriate directions - content of Longman direction LEGISLATION CITED : Criminal Appeal Act 1912 R v CPK (unreported, NSWCCA 21 June 1995) CASES CITED: R v Eishauer (unreported, NSWCCA 19 September 1997) R v Longman (1989) 168 CLR 79 Crampton v The Queen [2000] HCA 60, (2000) 117 A Crim R 222 DECISION : Conviction quashed; Judgment and verdict of acquittal entered

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL 60454/00

GILES JA HULME J ADAMS J

FRIDAY 27 JULY 2001

REGINA v Michael Anton MURRE JUDGMENT 1 GILES JA: I agree with Adams J. 2 HULME J: I also agree with Adams J. 3 ADAMS J: The appellant was charged under s 81 of the Crimes Act 1900 of a sexual assault which was alleged to have occurred in the winter of 1972 when he was teacher and the complainant was a schoolboy. They were respectively 22 and 13 years of age. The complainant first made a statement to the police about the matter in 1997, some 25 years after the event. The jury in the appellant's first trial had been unable to agree on a verdict. A second trial, conducted in May 2000, resulted in his conviction and, on 22 June 2000, he was sentenced to imprisonment for fifteen months suspended on certain conditions as to supervision. Before dealing with the grounds of appeal, it is convenient that I should set out the circumstances of the case.