Case Study On Doggett V R [2001] Hca 182 Alr 1

QUESTION 1 (a)

The parties to the proceedings are Graham Henr y Doggett for appellant and, The Queen for respondent.

(b)

This case was reported in the 2001.

(c)

The term HCA stands for High Court of Australia; whereby it represent the court in which the proceeding was being heard in. Number “182” is the page number of the first page of the case and number “1” refers to the volume of the reported case is in.

(d)

The parties was represented by AJ Rafter for appellant and LJ Claire on behalf of the respondent.

(e)

There are 5 judges decided on this case; they are Gleeson CJ, Gaudron, McHugh, Kirby and Callinan JJ.

(f)

The case of Doggett v R [2001] HCA 182 ALR 1 is a criminal proceeding.

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QUESTION 2 At the first instance, the case was heard in the Supreme Court of Queensland. Based upon the case reported, the case is heard on appeal. This is because, it has been stated in the case reported that the appeal has been allowed and retrial shall be held. Besides that, one could see that Mr. Doggett is appealing for the offences that he had committed against The Crown.

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QUESTION 3 In one’s observation, there are about 5 major issues that are highly likely to be seen. First and foremost is the issue with regards to whether, the appellant could be liable for all counts or neither any. The next issue is whether a warning was required outlining the disadvantages that the appellant would labour under at trial due to the delay, despite the fact that the accused’s counsel at trial, did not seek such a direction. Subsequently, this issue relates to the appellant, whereby he had failed to act in a way which is in fact contradict with his supposed ‘parental responsibility’ towards the complainant, even though he is merely her step-father. Consequently, the direction of Longman v The Crown is highly likely not applicable to the present case and which may confuse the jury. Lastly, the whether the case is suitable for the application of proviso. .

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QUESTION 4 There are reasons for the decision made, which the issues had been stated in the previous question. Now, let us deal with the court’s reason for such matters. For the first issue, it is important because of the effect of the evidence given, that corroborated the complainant’s alleged sexual offences. Next, the corroborative evidence did not relieve the trial judge from giving a warning (a Longman direction). Here the complainant's reminiscence of some matters was questionable. The problems with which Longman is intended to deal are not restricted to difficulties of reminiscence, which the passage of time might cause for an accused. Of equal or more importance is the denial by the elapse of time, to an accused of that a timely complaint might allow an accused to ‘pull together ’. Such as evidence as to where he was or what he was doing, or what other potential witnesses were doing when the offences were alleged to have occurred. The corroboration in this case was capable of establishing some unclear sexual molestation, probably unacceptable, but not necessarily criminal in the respects alleged in the counts, and therefore not of such a nature as to relieve the trial judge of a duty to direct the jur y in terms of Longman .

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Subsequently, the appellant is married to the complainant’s mother. Because of this, the appellant has become part of the family, as the complainant’s step-father. The complainant’s mother must have trust Mr. Doggett, to look after her daughter and sons; and not to sexually harass her daughter; meanwhile, the complainant’s mother undergoes medical treatment in Brisbane. Consequently, the difference between a comment and a warning in relation to the evidence is potentially challenging to both judges and juries. Thus, the circumstances which invite or require comment are those which are applicable to the evaluation of the complainant’s evidence; that is, circumstances which might suggest that his or her evidence is undependable. Commonly, they will be issues which might be expected to be within the jur y’s common understanding or experience, but which, with no proper reminder that they may have forgotten or overlooked. A remark should be given in terms which make it clear to the jur y that it is not a direction of law binding on them, and that they are free to place such weight on it as they consider appropriate. Last but not least, the fact that there may have been a strong case coupled with the fact that experienced trial counsel failed to seek a direction were both relevant to the potential operation of the proviso but were not sufficient basis, absent the warning, for the Court to be satisfied that the appellant had not been deprived of a chance of an acquittal.

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QUESTION 5 At the end of the case, it was noted that the tapped telephone conversation was in fact an insufficient evidence taking into account Section 36 B of The Evidence Act 1906 . It was also insufficient to convict the appellant through the honest oral evidence made by the complainant. The judicial warnings to the jury did not comply with the law established b y Longman . Leading the appellant failed for acquittal and the ‘proviso’ does not apply.

QUESTION 6 The formal order of the case was that, the appeal was upheld, and the convictions was quash on all counts and re-trial ordered.

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