Citation: [2018] NSWSC 1825
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 23 November 2018
Judge(s): Garling J
Background
This decision arises from a criminal trial before the Supreme Court. The proceedings involved the death of Stephen Blanchard, and the adequacy of the police investigation into that death became a contested issue during the trial.
During cross-examination, a former Detective Sergeant was questioned about a running sheet (Exhibit 276) relating to a statement obtained from a witness named Colin James Young. The cross-examination explored an apparent conflict between information provided by the deceased's family about his drug use habits and other information gathered in the course of the investigation.
In re-examination, the Crown sought to tender a further document: a single-page running sheet dated 29 February 1980, compiled by the same detective. That document recorded interviews conducted with a witness, Mark Munro, regarding his knowledge of the deceased and the deceased's alleged use of illicit drugs.
Legal Issues
- Whether the running sheet compiled by the detective and tendered in re-examination was relevant and therefore admissible under the Evidence Act 1995.
Decision
Admissibility of the Running Sheet:
Garling J held that the proposed exhibit directly addressed topics raised for the first time during cross-examination, specifically the adequacy of the police investigation and any unresolved inconsistencies in the information gathered by investigators (at [5]-[6]).
The document was relevant because it bore on the extent of the inquiries undertaken and whether inconsistencies in the investigation's information remained unresolved after the interview with Mr Munro (at [5]). Because the issue of investigative adequacy had not formed part of the Crown's case in chief but was introduced by the defence through cross-examination, the document was properly tendered in re-examination (at [6]).
The running sheet was found to be admissible and was admitted into evidence as Exhibit 291 (at [6]).
Orders Made
- Running sheet at page 2542 of Crown E-brief admitted and marked Exhibit 291.
Key Takeaways
- The Supreme Court confirmed that a document tendered in re-examination is admissible where it is relevant to a topic first raised by the defence during cross-examination, even if that topic formed no part of the Crown's case in chief (at [5]-[6]).
- Relevance was established by the document's bearing on the extent of police inquiries and whether investigative inconsistencies had been resolved, matters that had been put in issue through cross-examination (at [5]).
- A running sheet recording witness interviews conducted by an investigating detective was treated as capable of going to the adequacy of the police investigation as a factual issue in the trial (at [6]).
- The decision turned entirely on its particular facts and raises no question of principle, as reflected in the catchwords.
Legislation and Cases Referenced
Legislation
- Evidence Act 1995
Cases
- Not Applicable