Ad hoc expert voice identification evidence under s 79 of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) is inadmissible where the witness's familiarity with the accused's voice was acquired solely by listening to recordings that are available to the jury, because the witness has no specialised knowledge beyond that which the jury could itself acquire. The proviso under s 6(1) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) does not apply where its application would require the appellate court to be the first tribunal of fact to undertake a factual comparison that the jury was effectively told it did not need to make.
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