The High Court played a role on both occasions when jury findings against Raymond Carroll in relation to the death of toddler Deidre Kennedy were overturned on appeal. In 1985, Carroll’s conviction for Kennedy’s murder was quashed by Queensland’s Court of Criminal Appeal, relying in part on the High Court’s judgments in Chamberlain (to hold that the jury should have been directed that it should not rely on forensic evidence that his teeth matched a bite on the toddler’s body unless satisfied of that fact beyond reasonable doubt) and Markby, Perry and Sutton (to hold that ‘similar fact’ evidence of Carroll’s alleged biting of another child was inadmissible). Each of these High Court judgments have since been qualified by later High Court judgments (Edwards and Pfenning) and (in some states) legislation. More importantly, in 2002, the High Court ruled that Carroll’s subsequent conviction for perjury (for allegedly lying at the 1985 trial when he denied murdering the toddler) was an abuse of process because of the rule against double jeopardy. Following England’s lead, most Australian states and territories have since enacted exceptions to the rule against double jeopardy.

Yesterday, the Queensland Attorney-General announced an extension to the state’s existing exceptions to the double jeopardy rule that has particular implications for Raymond Carroll: Continue reading →