Observation Of Criminal Evidence

On 2nd September, I visited the Court of Criminal Appeal, to observe the case proceedings of the final decision passed in the appeal of Campbell v R. The court was presided over by Bathurst CJ, Simpson J and Hidden J. The appellant, Mr. Desmond Campbell was convicted for the murder of Janet Campbell, his wife, on 24th March 2005, in a trial by jury. His appeal rested on the fact that there were multiple miscarriages of justice, first by the trial judge in providing up an alternative scenario which involved liability for murder resting on an indifference to human life, which was not put forward by the crown court. Secondly, he appealed against the fact that the trial judge admitted the evidence by Associate Professor Cross even after objection, evidence which rested on the case of Wood v The Queen. Lastly, the trial judge also gave biased directions as to how the evidence presented by June Ingham could be utilized. Hence, one of the main issues on appeal in the case were based on the consideration of the significance of expert evidence, and whether the evidence at trial had stood as enough for a …show more content…
The crown argued that the second scenario was more likely as the footprint admitted as evidence showed that a ‘slip’ would not have left the scene of crime in a particular state, but if the deceased had been pushed, then she would have left that footprint in that exact position. Furthermore, the Crown supposed that by acting completely indifferent to his wife’s death, Mr Campbell exuding guilt. Hence, the Crown accused the appellant of liability on the basis of reckless indifference to human life. The Crowns case was heavily based on expert evidence regarding the partial footprint, and logistics of Janet Campbell slipping versus being pushed by the