Gittany v R [2016] NSWCCA 182

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Gittany v R [2016] NSWCCA 182 Hearing dates: 10 June 2016 Decision date: 19 August 2016 Before: Basten JA at [1]; R A Hulme J at [118]; Fagan J at [119] Decision: (1) To the extent necessary, grant the applicant leave to appeal under s 5(1) of the Criminal Appeal Act.

(2) Dismiss the applicant's appeal against conviction. Catchwords: APPEAL – criminal conviction – leave to appeal – challenge to findings in judge-alone trial – assessment of expert evidence as to reliability of eye-witness testimony – whether verdict unreasonable

CRIME – murder – leave to appeal conviction – judge- alone trial – expert evidence on witness testimony and memory contamination – whether error in discounting evidence of expert witness – whether failure to assess reliability of evidence of key witness

EVIDENCE – expert evidence – forensic psychology – reliability of witness' memory – expert evidence on phenomenon of unconscious contamination of perceptions by subsequently acquired information and internal processes of reconstruction – whether reasoning as to contamination based on misunderstanding of witness' evidence – whether evidence of post-event information supported theory of witness' memory contamination – whether delay in giving of witness' account supported contention of contamination Legislation Cited: Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW), ss 5, 6 Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), s 133 Cases Cited: Filippou v The Queen [2015] HCA 29; 89 ALJR 776 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Simon Gittany (Applicant) Regina (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: Mr S Odgers SC/Ms A Francis (Applicant) Ms S Dowling SC (Respondent)