 Former Northern Territory Chief Justice Brian Ross Martin was appointed as an Acting Justice of the Western Australia Supreme Court in February 2012 to preside over the trial; a judge from outside Western Australia being used to ensure impartiality, given that both the victim and accused had held senior legal positions in the state.The trial began on 16 July 2012, and ran until 19 October 2012 when final submissions were presented by prosecutor John Agius SC and defence counsel David Edwardson QC.On 1 November, Justice Martin acquitted Lloyd Rayney when he handed down a judgment of "not guilty", saying that the "case by the State is beset by improbabilities and uncertainties".