David Eastman loses bid to have judge removed

Eastman tried to have Acting Justice Anthony Whealy recuse himself because of his links to the man who ran the prosecution at the original 1995 trial.

That prosecutor, Michael Adams, QC, went on to become a NSW Supreme Court judge and worked for about 10 years with Acting Justice Whealy, the man deciding Eastman's fate now.

Eastman never alleged that the pair's relationship would influence Acting Justice Whealy in any way, but said members of the public might perceive bias.

That prompted Eastman to launch a bid to remove Acting Justice Whealy from sitting on his application to stay his second trial.

The stay application might require Acting Justice Whealy to make findings about the conduct of his former colleague leading up to and during Eastman's 1995 trial.

But Acting Justice Whealy dismissed the application on Friday afternoon, saying he was satisfied that the "fair-minded lay observer" would have no reasonable apprehension that he would be biased.

He said he had been retired from the court for three years, and evidence showed he sat on an appeal bench with Mr Adams on only two occasions in 14 years.

"More significant is the fact that the inquiry into Mr Adams' propriety has no connection with his work as a judge of the Supreme Court," he wrote.

"It is confined entirely to his role as a Crown prosecutor in the Eastman trial. It relates to events that occurred in 1992 to 1995, a number of years before his appointment to the NSW Supreme Court."

Mr Adams was cleared last year of any improper conduct during the inquiry into Eastman's conviction.

Acting Justice Whealy also handed down his reasons for upholding the claims of federal and Victorian police to keep aspects of sensitive evidence secret.