This morning, the High Court granted the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions leave to argue that Gerard Baden-Clay’s murder conviction should be reinstated.
The final ruling will made by a bench of up to seven judges in Australia’s highest court.
45-year-old Baden-Clay was convicted of the April 2012 murder of his wife, 43-year-old Allison, following a Supreme Court trial in 2014. However, following an appeal, the charge was downgraded to manslaughter.
The downgraded conviction came after Baden-Clay’s legal team successfully argued that while there was enough evidence to prove he killed his wife, there was insufficient evidence to prove he did so with intent.
The successful appeal led to widespread public outcry which culminated in a public rally demanding justice for Allison in King George Square in late 2015.
After the rally, Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath announced the state’s chief lawyer, Director of Public Prosecutions Michael Byrne, QC, would seek leave to appeal the decision in the High Court of Australia.
The hearing is expected to take place sometime in the next three months. It will be the fourth criminal jurisdiction the Baden-Clay case has been argued in since he was charged with his wife’s murder in June, 2012.
Allison Baden-Clay’s body was found on the banks of the Kholo Creek, 14kms from the home she shared with her husband and their three daughters in Brookfield, in Brisbane’s west, on April 30, 2012.
