The NSWCCA unanimously refused an application that Rigg J recuse herself from hearing a sentence severity appeal, where her Honour had previously represented a third party (KL) connected to the events underlying the offences but who was not a victim, offender, or witness in the proceedings. The Court held that the applicant failed to articulate a logical connection between the prior professional representation and any feared departure from deciding the case on its merits, as required by the second step of the Ebner test. The subjective concerns of the applicant and his family about the judge's prior association with a person who later showed animosity towards the applicant did not satisfy the fair-minded lay observer standard.
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