Police identification or recognition evidence from CCTV footage or photographs is irrelevant under Smith v The Queen where the officers are in no better position than the trier of fact to compare the accused's appearance with the person depicted. Such evidence is also not admissible as lay opinion under s 78 of the Evidence Act 2011 (ACT) because the 'matter or event' in s 78 must be a matter or event relevant to the facts in issue, and a 'mental comparison' between a remembered impression and a photograph is not a 'matter or event' within s 78. Even if otherwise admissible, such evidence should be excluded under s 137 where the officers had only fleeting prior contact with the accused and the evidence carries a real risk of the trier of fact substituting the officers' opinions for its own conclusion.
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