You must remember that the passage of time, people when allegations are made, sometimes lose the means of defending themselves, had an allegation been made shortly after the event, it would have been possible to explore in detail the alleged circumstances surrounding the occurrence, and perhaps adduce evidence throwing doubts on the complainant's version, or indeed confirming the accused's denial, or confirming the complainant's version.
After a delay, that opportunity may have gone. For example, the sort of thing I am talking about, had the victim's mother been interviewed by the police the next day after Count 1, and said to her, 'Look, we want to ask you questions about what happened last Tuesday night, did C come into your room and say that there was a mouse under her bed, or something like that?' And, 'Did you leave the room, and did she stay in the bedroom with [the applicant], and did you go to bed after that, and did you notice anything unusual about her on that night?'
Well, depending on what answers you gave, you could have evidence of a witness whose memory was presumably fresh, who may have said, 'Yes, what C says is true,' or 'Nothing like that happened at all and I didn't notice anything untoward about her,' or 'She was a bit flighty and she went back to bed,' all those things might or might not have been given. You cannot speculate on what answers - what evidence might have been available, but you have got to appreciate that a passage of time has gone and the opportunity for C's mother to give that evidence in detail as to whether the offence occurred, or did not occur, or what have you, surrounding circumstances on that Tuesday night, it would have been Tuesday, I am assuming it was; will not help you. That evidence has gone.
Likewise, for example, [witness A] might have been interviewed and his memory might have been a little bit more precise in 1998 as to whether he got into blue Chevrolet truck or not, or whether he ever did go driving. He says no he cannot recall, never had an occasion to be in that car with the accused man or C. Therefore [the prosecutor] says you should accept his evidence and it throws doubt on C's reliability as a witness.
But on the other hand [witness A's] recollection is now some seven or nine years long and, of course, the accused has been denied in one sense the ability to have that evidence put before you in a very stark circumstances. If [witness A] had a fresh memory of those days, on the other hand, [defence counsel's] comment to [witness A] was - something about his memory. How good is your memory of that period of time, some seven or eight years ago. [26]