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Ali Chaouk maintains he was having dinner with his wife and her mother when family rival Mohammad Haddara was gunned down 13 years ago.

Chaouk has launched an appeal against his murder conviction after a Victorian Supreme Court jury found him guilty of fatally shooting Haddara, 28, from behind outside the victim's Altona North home in June 2009.

He claims jurors were wrongly told his wife and mother-in-law had lied about his alibi before deciding his guilty verdict in 2018, the Court of Appeal heard on Friday.

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A decade after the murder, Chaouk was jailed for 24 years after his wife's cousin, Ahmed Hablas, gave evidence against him at the trial.

He must serve 18 years before he becomes eligible for parole.

The Chaouk and the Haddara families have a lengthy history of animosity and the shooting occurred after an argument about a borrowed Mercedes.

Hablas initially confessed to the killing but recanted before standing trial, saying he had confessed out of fear.

He was acquitted by a jury in 2011.

Chaouk, who appeared in court by video link from Barwon prison, has always maintained his innocence.

His barrister Peter Lange argued Chaouk's conviction should be overturned due to "special and compelling circumstances" regarding the use of his wife and mother-in-law's alibi evidence during the trial.

"It was suggested in the closing address by prosecution counsel that both of these ladies had lied," Lange told the court on Friday.

"The jury had to consider, in order to convict the applicant (Chaouk), the evidence of both the partner and the mother-in-law.

"Because if that evidence raised doubt, the prosecution's case failed.

"There was a very real risk of misuse of the rejection of the alibi evidence, so as to give rise to special circumstances."

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Lange said the women's alibi was consistent with what his client had told police when he was interviewed.

He alleged the jury was not properly directed by the trial judge about how to deal with the case if they concluded Chaouk, his partner and her mother had lied about the alibi.

Further, he argued if the jury had found they had lied then jurors would been more likely to accept Hablas' account at the trial.

"In other words, a tendency to cause people to lie on his behalf to avoid a finding of involvement in the shooting and therefore giving credence to the account given by Hablas," Lange said.

"That would be an entirely inappropriate mode of reasoning."

Crown barrister Chris Boyce said the trial judge's directions to the jury were carefully curated and that Chaouk's lawyers did not ask for the direction about the alibi evidence.

Had the jury been given this direction, Boyce said it would not have helped Chaouk's case.

Justices Geoffrey Priest, David Beach and Stephen McLeish reserved their decision.

By RNZ People should stay clear of a humpback whale carcass that has washed up on a remote beach north of Dunedin, the Department of Conservation says.The 9.7-metre juvenile humpback was first seen floating off the coast of…

Nick Kyrgios' day in court to face a common assault charge has been postponed by three weeks.

The assault charge relates to an incident in January 2021 that was reported to ACT police in December.

The Australian tennis sensation was initially required to face the ACT Magistrates Court on August 2, amid reports he grabbed his former girlfriend Chiara Passari in the 2021 incident.

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He told reporters at Wimbledon earlier this month he had a lot of things he wanted to say but had been advised by his lawyers he was unable to make any comment.

Canberra solicitor Michael Kukulies-Smith is now acting on Kyrgios' behalf.

Kukulies-Smith would not confirm or deny the details of the charge, saying it would be inappropriate to do so or reveal his client's instructions while the matter is before the court.

The matter will be now be heard in the ACT Magistrates Court on August 23.

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The Wimbledon men's singles finalist is scheduled to be in the United States for the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati after being awarded the wild card.

The competition will run through mid-August, finishing two days before the court date.

The 27-year-old is scheduled to take part in the US Open, which begins on August 29.

Kyrgios is not required to attend court if he is legally represented.

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A baby humpback whale has died after washing up on a northern New South Wales beach.

The whale was found on Oxley Beach in Port Macquarie around 10am on Friday morning.

The creature is believed to be only one week old and was found thrashed against rocks.

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NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia worked to save the whale's life but unfortunately, it died on Friday afternoon.

Volunteers put wet blankets on the whale and used buckets to pour salt water over the creature but it was too late.

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The whale's mother hasn't been spotted surfacing in the area.

Humpback whales stay with their offspring for up to a year until they are ready to be on their own.