Roach v The Queen

Criminal law – Evidence - Propensity evidence - Admissibility and relevance - Where appellant charged with assault occasioning bodily harm - Where trial judge admitted evidence of other assaults by appellant upon complainant during their relationship pursuant to s 132B of Evidence Act 1977 (Q) ("Act") making admissible relevant evidence of history of domestic relationship - Where s 130 of Act preserved trial judge's discretion to exclude evidence where admission would be unfair to accused - Whether rule in Pfennig v The Queen (1995) 182 CLR 461 to be applied in determining admissibility under s 132B or exercising discretion under s 130 - If evidence admitted, whether jury ought to have been directed they could not rely upon evidence unless satisfied of its truth beyond reasonable doubt.

Words and phrases – "domestic violence", "prejudicial", "probative", "propensity", "relationship evidence", "unfairness".

Evidence Act 1977 (Q) – ss 130, 132B.