Citation: R v Cairney (No 10) [2025] NSWSC 708
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 27 May 2025
Judge: Campbell J
Background
This decision is one in a series of interlocutory rulings made during the ongoing criminal trial of the accused. The ruling was delivered ex tempore, meaning orally from the bench and later revised for publication.
The specific question before the court concerned a piece of interactive digital evidence: a recording produced using the Interactive Scene Recording and Presentation System (ISRAPS). ISRAPS is a technology that creates a navigable, three-dimensional record of a crime scene, allowing viewers to move through and interact with the recorded environment.
The contested elements of the ISRAPS recording included images of a white utility vehicle parked on Turner Esplanade, along with blood staining visible on the side panel of that vehicle. The accused challenged the admissibility of this material.
Legal Issues
- Whether the ISRAPS recording, including images of the white utility vehicle and its blood staining, was relevant and therefore admissible as evidence at trial.
- Whether the interactive nature of the ISRAPS format created a risk that jurors would focus disproportionately or inappropriately on particular elements when reviewing the exhibit in the jury room.
- Whether the potential prejudicial effect of blood stain imagery on the jury could be adequately managed.
Decision
Campbell J ruled that the ISRAPS recording was relevant and admissible in its entirety, including the contested images of the utility vehicle. His Honour noted that those images were similar in character to photograph 41 of the crime scene photographs, which had been dealt with in the immediately preceding ruling, R v Cairney (No 9) [2025] NSWSC 707.
On the concern about the interactive format, the court identified two countervailing considerations. First, either party would be granted leave to question the bloodstain pattern expert or experts about the significance of the blood staining on the vehicle's side panel and how it came to appear as depicted. This would allow the jury to receive expert guidance on exactly those aspects of the recording they might otherwise be left to assess unaided.
Second, the court considered that any risk of undue prejudice arising from the blood stain images could be addressed through an appropriate jury direction. The combination of available expert evidence and a suitable direction was sufficient to ameliorate the concerns raised about the exhibit's interactive character.
Orders Made
No formal orders were recorded in this decision beyond the ruling that the ISRAPS recording, including the contested images, is admissible.
Key Takeaways
- The Supreme Court held that an ISRAPS recording of a crime scene constituted relevant evidence and was admissible, including images of blood staining on a vehicle associated with the alleged offence.
- The interactive nature of a digital crime scene recording does not of itself render such evidence inadmissible; concerns about how jurors may engage with interactive exhibits in the jury room can be addressed by other means.
- Where blood stain pattern evidence is in issue, leave to examine expert witnesses about the significance of specific staining depicted in an exhibit provides a meaningful safeguard against juror misinterpretation.
- A suitable jury direction was identified as an effective tool for managing the potential prejudicial effect of blood stain imagery, without excluding the evidence entirely.
- This ruling followed closely from R v Cairney (No 9) [2025] NSWSC 707, in which Campbell J addressed related questions about a crime scene photograph of the same vehicle.
Legislation and Cases Referenced
Cases:
- R v Cairney (No 9) [2025] NSWSC 707
Legislation: No legislation was cited in the judgment or its metadata.