Later on, we arrive at R v Rebels which thrusts viewers into the action during an episode of intense questioning. The prosecution’s witness, an ex-president of the Rebels Motorcycle Club, was the victim. The issue was in identifying the people who assaulted him. It was obvious the witness was being deliberately un-cooperative as reflected by his response, “I don’t know”, to the majority of questions posed to him. Even though the incident occurred three years ago, the witness failed to recall even basic facts such as whether he regularly fed his dog. Thus, the witness was declared unfavourable pursuant to s 38(1)(b), enabling the prosecutor to cross-examine whilst fulfilling his duty to call upon all material witnesses.
