In R v HCQ [2024] QCA 93, the appellant, HCQ, appealed against a conviction for rape delivered by the District Court at Southport on 9 March 2023. The primary grounds for appeal were that the conviction was unreasonable in light of the evidence and inconsistent with other verdicts. The jury convicted the appellant of rape on count 1 but acquitted him on counts 2 and 3, citing differences in the evidence presented for each count.
The Court of Appeal, comprising Mullins P, Dalton JA, and Kelly J, heard the appeal on 12 March 2024 and delivered their judgment on 24 May 2024.
Dalton JA, delivering the leading judgment, dismissed the appeal, finding no reasonable basis to deem the jury's verdict as unreasonable or inconsistent. The judgment recognised that inconsistencies were addressed during the trial and were appropriately evaluated by the jury. The court upheld that the jury's verdict on count 1 was sufficiently supported by the evidence, whereas the verdicts on counts 2 and 3 were not. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, affirming the District Court's conviction on count 1 and maintaining the acquittals on counts 2 and 3.