The King v. Ryan Churchill (a pseudonym)

Lower Court Judgment

28/06/2024 Supreme Court of Victoria (Court of Appeal) (Beach, Taylor, and Orr JJA)

[2024] VSCA 151

Catchwords

Criminal law – evidence – hearsay – Evidence Act 1996 (Vic) – where appellant convicted of two counts of incest - evidence given of complainant’s representation to another person of having been sexually assaulted – where evidence led that complainant distressed when making representation – where Court of Appeal allowed appeal and held trial judge should have warned jury that evidence of such distress “generally carried little weight” – whether Court of Appeal erred in holding such direction should have been given – whether Court of Appeal erred in finding substantial miscarriage of justice because trial judge did not specifically direct jury they could not use evidence of distress unless first finding link between distress and alleged offending.