claimed he had perjured himself at the 1985 murder trial by swearing he did not kill Deidre Kennedy. In November 2000 a jury convicted him of perjury. Carroll appealed against this conviction. Supreme Court of Queensland - Court of Appeal The Queensland appeal court upheld Carroll's appeal. They found the perjury trial was in essence a re-trial of the original murder trial and that the prosecution case amounted to an abuse of process that contravened principles of double jeopardy. While the court applied an earlier decision by the Queensland Supreme Court, R v El-Zarw, which held that a prosecution such as this would not be an abuse of process if there was substantial new evidence, they found that the evidence presented by the prosecution in the perjury trial was not substantial. The prosecution appealed against this decision. High Court of Australia The High Court dismissed the appeal, finding that a conviction for perjury would inevitably controvert Carroll's previous acquittal for murder and was thus inconsistent with double jeopardy principles. The High Court also ruled that this principle applied whether or not substantial new evidence had come to light, overruling Queensland authority to that effect. The courts ruling in this case was due to technicality which was established to prevent double jeopardy Public response There was widespread public outcry following this decision. The general perception was that a person who had been found guilty by two juries of murdering a baby had 'got off' on a 'legal technicality.' The Queensland premier Peter Beattie stated that 'there was an injustice done in this case', the New South Wales premier Bob Carr began a law reform process and the Victorian attorney general, Rob Hulls canvassed the possibility of legislative change. The Kennedy family told their side of the story in a 2003 ABC Australian Story episode, "Double Bind". Carrol gave his side of the story in a Australiainterview in 2006. The double jeopardy law has since been changed through the Criminal Code (Double Jeopardy) Amendment Act 2007 (Qld). References External links Petition to Qld Parliament Law Review Questioning Double Jeopardy The World Today High Court of Australia cases 2002 in Australian law Australian criminal law 2002 in case law Perjury