The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Z.R. against his conviction for rape following a trial arising from events at a woman's home in November 2019.
Z.R. was convicted in August 2023 of one count of rape but acquitted of three other counts. The complainant said she awoke to Z.R. in her bed and that he penetrated her vaginally and anally despite her crying and asking him to stop. Z.R. accepted vaginal intercourse took place but said it was consensual and denied the other alleged sexual activity.
A central issue on appeal concerned three short recordings made by the complainant shortly after the alleged offence. In them, Z.R. apologised while she repeatedly referred to asking him to stop. The prosecution argued the apologies concerned his sexual conduct. Z.R. said he was apologising for coming to the apartment.
The complainant's phone was later irreparably damaged while in Garda custody before the defence could independently examine it. Gardaí had previously carried out only a partial forensic download. The Court of Appeal described that failure as regrettable but held that it did not deprive Z.R. of a realistic defence. His suggestion that recordings might have been altered, deleted or incomplete was considered speculative, and their content was highly relevant and probative.
The court also upheld admission of a WhatsApp complaint made shortly afterwards to a friend, Mr W, who then called Gardaí. Recent-complaint evidence is not proof that an allegation is true; it is admitted for the limited purpose of showing that a complainant's conduct was consistent with their testimony.
The court further rejected arguments that the trial judge should have directed an acquittal because of the complainant's reliability or missing phone evidence.
Finally, it held that acquitting Z.R. on three counts while convicting on the vaginal rape count showed no legal inconsistency. The jury was entitled to assess each allegation separately. The conviction appeal was dismissed.