Where law enforcement officers conduct a controlled operation under an authority that is subsequently declared invalid, the evidence obtained is not automatically excluded under s 138 of the Evidence Act 1995. A bona fide belief in the validity of the authority, particularly where the officers' interpretation of the statute was upheld by lower courts before being overturned on appeal, weighs heavily against exclusion. The case is distinguishable from Ridgeway v The Queen where the illegality of the police conduct was known and conceded from the outset.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 5 later cases that cite this judgment.