Daniel Giuseppe Grimaldi wins rape appeal, set to be retried

The son of a well-known Queensland family has successfully appealed three rape convictions and is set to face a new trial.

Daniel Giuseppe Grimaldi comes from a prominent Mount Isa family.

The son of a well-known Mount Isa family has had his rape convictions set aside and a new trial ordered.

Daniel Giuseppe Grimaldi was found guilty on three counts of rape following a trial in Townsville last year.

The Crown had alleged during the trial that the 36-year-old had ignored the complainant’s wishes after they went home together to have consensual sex and instead sought out his own sexual gratification.

Grimaldi’s defence at trial was that the acts constituting count one were consensual while counts two and three were either consensual or the defendant held an honest and reasonable belief that the woman was consenting to those acts.

A jury found him guilty of the three counts of rape but not guilty of the remaining count of rape, as well as a count of sexual assault in November.

Grimaldi appealed his conviction on three grounds, with top barrister Jeff Hunter KC arguing there had been a miscarriage of justice and the jury’s verdicts were unreasonable.

The Queensland Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld the appeal, setting aside Grimaldi’s three rape convictions and ordering a new trial on those counts.

Originally published as Daniel Giuseppe Grimaldi wins rape appeal, set to be retried