First Appeal Ground for Mowday versus The State of Western Australia case

Overview

The original verdict reached in the Mowday versus The State of Western Australia case was disputed and appealed against by the defendant's council.

Materials

• Mowday versus The State of Western Australia case.
• Transcript video
• Transcript audio
• Transcript PDF
• 250-word summary (produced in advance by learners).

Task: Considering whether evidence supported the verdict reached.

Learners should consider the FIRST APPEAL GROUND for the case in question. The first appeal ground is:

Ground I: Having regard to the evidence, the verdict of guilty is unreasonable or can not be supported by the evidence. MOWDAY -v- THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The expectation is that learners should:

1. Spend no more than 20 minutes considering the grounds of the appeal by considering the case and the 250-word summary produced in advance.

2. Spend no more than 10 minutes to formulate a position whether the appeal should be granted and the rationale for the adopted position.

3. Generate a verdict with supporting summary of no more than 100 words that confirms the adopted position and rationale.

Learners in considering the appeal should consider the following specific factors raised when considering their judgement:

• Same images seized and viewed. 27 images of child exploitation were located and identified on systems in January 2005, but from disks seized in March 2004 from the appellant.

• Continuity of Evidence. Authorities seized a hard disk and disks but they were transported between different entities, including the Perth Computer Centre and Merredin Police as well as the Internet cafe.