as a barrister, notable successes came in two criminal trials, r v gardner (1932) 51 nzlr 1648 and r v phillips [1949] nzlr 316, cases where he was able to have confessions procured by the police by threat or inducement excluded from the evidence. these cases are still cited in textbooks on the law of evidence today. in 1952, he was made queen's counsel. on 29 june 1953, he was appointed judge of the supreme court of new zealand. after serving on provincial courts he was named senior auckland judge. on 30 august 1962 he was elevated to the court of appeal in wellington, alongside sir alfred north and sir thaddeus mccarthy. turner served as the court's president from 1 february 1972 until his retirement 17 months later.