Thorn v The King

Lower Court Judgment

15/05/2026 Supreme Court of Victoria (Court of Appeal) (Emerton P, Lyons and Kidd JJA)

[2026] VSCA 99

Catchwords

Criminal law – appeal of murder conviction – admissibility of evidence of admissions – when is evidence ‘given by’ a witness – where witness unavailable to give evidence at trial – where recording of witness containing sworn evidence of admission admitted through s 65(3) of the Evidence Act 2008 (Vic) (‘the Act’) – whether Court of Appeal erred in finding that the recorded account was evidence of an admission ‘given’ by the unavailable witness, so as to engage the first-hand hearsay exception in s 82(a) of the Act