Adams v R [2018] NSWCCA 303

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Adams v R [2018] NSWCCA 303 Hearing dates: 2 March 2018 Date of orders: 20 December 2018 Decision date: 20 December 2018 Before: Hoeben CJ at CL at [1] Campbell J at [7] N Adams J at [191] Decision: (1) Leave to appeal against conviction granted. (2) Appeal allowed. (3) Conviction and sentence on Count 1 quashed. (4) Enter verdict of acquittal on Count 1. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – conviction and sentence appeal – three counts of aggravated indecent assault – one count of aggravated sexual assault – circumstance of aggravation – whether the verdicts of guilty are unreasonable and cannot be supported having regard to the evidence – verdicts are irrationally inconsistent – misuse or mistake in relation to the DNA evidence – the jury improperly rejected the evidence of the Crown expert witness in relation to the lack of significance of the DNA evidence – whether the conduct of the trial was attended with a number of significant errors and whether these 'errors' had the singular and cumulative effect of depriving the appellant of a fair trial according to law

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE – whether the trial judge erred in excluding the "False Complaints" evidence – the appellant contends he received a harsher sentence than that warranted in law Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), ss 61J, 61M, 66C Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW), s 5F Criminal Appeal Rules 1912 (NSW), r 4 Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), Pt 5 s 293 Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), ss 13, 56, 102, s 106, 108C, 137, 192A Cases Cited: ARS v R [2011] NSWCCA 266 Burton v R (2013) 237 A Crim R 238; [2013] NSWCCA 335 Clark v R (2008) 185 A Crim R 1; [2008] NSWCCA 122 Doyle v R; R v Doyle [2014] NSWCCA 4 Fitzgerald v The Queen [2014] HCA 28; (2014) 88 ALJR 779 GEH v R (2012) 228 A Crim R 32; [2012] NSWCCA 150 GP v R [2016] NSWCCA 150 Greenhalgh v R [2017] NSWCCA 94 HG v The Queen (1999) 197 CLR 414; [1999] HCA 2 JWM v R [2014] NSWCCA 248 MacKenzie v The Queen (1996) 190 CLR 348 MFA v The Queen (2002) 213 CLR 606; [2002] HCA 53 MG v R [2017] NSWCCA 14 M v The Queen (1994) 181 CLR 484; [1994] HCA 63 M v R (1993) 67 A Crim R 549 Obeid v R [2017] NSWCCA 221 Palmer v R (1998) 193 CLR 1; [1998] HCA 2 Picken v R; R v Picken [2007] NSWCCA 319 Regina v Skaf, Ghanem & Hajeid [2004] NSWCCA 74 R v Birks (1990) 19 NSWLR 677 R v Dann [2000] NSWCCA 185 R v Fowler (2003) 151 A Crim R 166 R v GK (2001) 53 NSWLR 317; [2001] NSWCCA 413 R v Markuleski (2001) 52 NSWLR 82; [2001] NSWCCA 290 R v Morgan (1993) 30 NSWLR 543 R v RTB [2002] NSWCCA 104 R v Stone, Court of Criminal Appeal (Eng), 13 December 1954, unrep R v Taylor (2009) 78 NSWLR 198; [2009] NSWCCA 180 Shepherd v The Queen (1990) 170 CLR 573 TK v R (2009) 74 NSWLR 299; [2009] NSWCCA 151 Texts Cited: Nil Category: Principal judgment Parties: Anthony Peter Adams (Appellant) Regina (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: C Doosey (Appellant) N Adams (Crown)