Lawyers for Gerard Baden-Clay have lodged a submission to the High Court arguing there is no evidence to support the allegation the Brisbane man intended to kill his wife.
Last year, the Queensland Court of Appeal downgraded Baden-Clay’s murder conviction to manslaughter, saying the jury could not have proved beyond reasonable doubt the former real estate agent intended to kill his wife, Allison.
The Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) later lodged an appeal in the High Court against the manslaughter ruling.
The DPP submitted documents to the High Court in February, arguing there was a motive for murder, including Baden-Clay’s affair and his “cold-blooded” dumping of Mrs Baden-Clay’s body.
“The yearning of a man to be with another woman has for a long time been regarded as relevant to the question of intent,” the documents said.
On Monday, Peter Shields Lawyers sent their written submission to the High Court on Baden-Clay’s behalf, arguing there was no direct evidence to suggest their client caused Mrs Baden-Clay’s death or that he did so with intent.
Their submission stated that while scratches on Baden-Clay’s face said something about the relationship he had with his wife, they said nothing about his intention.
“Proof he caused the death depended upon the drawing of inferences,” Baden-Clay’s lawyers wrote.
“Proof that he killed with the necessary intent depended upon the drawing of inferences.”
Baden-Clay’s lawyers told the High Court that the Court of Appeal concluded “the lies and steps to dispose of the body considered with all of the other evidence still left open the hypothesis of guilt of unlawful killing, hence a verdict of murder was not reasonably open”.
“This conclusion is correct.”
The full bench of the High Court will hear the appeal in Brisbane on July 26.
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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And it had been Alison having the affair he could have claimed provocation in QLD. If engaging in acts to avoid a costly divorce to be with another woman and to hide his guilt isn't evidence of intent I don't know what is.
Of course there was. He checked out the insurance policies.
yes, I would have thought that was a key piece of evidence they could use towards proving "intent"