A prosecution's persistent focus during cross-examination and address on the accused's inability to provide a motive for the complainant to fabricate allegations is an illegitimate line of inquiry that impermissibly reverses the onus of proof. Where such conduct deprives the accused of a significant possibility of acquittal, the conviction will be set aside even if the verdict is not otherwise unsafe and unsatisfactory. A retrial may not be ordered where the case is finely balanced, there have been multiple prior trials, and the accused has already served substantial imprisonment.
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