The Queen v Nguyen

Criminal law – Appeal - Verdict unreasonable or cannot be supported having regard to the evidence - Respondent found guilty by jury of murder and attempted murder by complicity - Court of Appeal quashed convictions on ground that verdicts "unsafe and unsatisfactory" in the sense that verdicts were unreasonable or could not be supported having regard to the evidence - Whether verdicts unsafe and unsatisfactory - Whether reasonably open to jury on the whole of the evidence to convict respondent of murder and attempted murder - Task of appellate court.

Criminal law – Murder - Practice and procedure - Directions to jury - Whether alternative verdict of manslaughter sufficiently left to jury - Whether reasonably open to jury to return alternative verdict of manslaughter - Whether failure sufficiently to leave alternative verdict to jury constituted a wrong decision on a question of law - Whether no substantial miscarriage of justice actually occurred.

Words and phrases – "unsafe and unsatisfactory", "substantial miscarriage of justice".

Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) – s 568.