Petty and Maiden v The Queen (1991) 173 CLR 95
- casetreasury
- Aug 2, 2024
- 2 min read
Facts: Petty (P) and Maiden (M) were convicted of murder. In their statements, M blamed P and P said it was accidental. Another witness (W) testified at the committal hearing that M told him they planned it and killed the victim together. At trial, both claimed it was accidental. The W was cross-examined (CE) by D suggesting M’s conversation was not as he described it but that M was keeping with the argument that it was an accident. Pr led evidence from the W that his idea had never been put to him at the committal hearing (CE during committal just suggested that C was not telling the truth and did not suggest a different version of the conversation). In summing up, the trial judge (TJ) directed the jury to not draw any inference of guilt from M’s failure to raise the accident explanation at the committal hearing, but they were allowed to take it into account when they assessed weight.