A defendant who gives notice requiring witnesses to attend a paper committal but then voluntarily fails to appear is deemed to have waived the right to cross-examine and impliedly consented to the statements being tendered, rendering them 'prescribed statements' admissible at trial under s 409(7) Crimes Act 1900 (now s 116 Criminal Procedure Act 1986). Section 8 of the Evidence Act 1995 preserves the operation of s 409(7) against any argument of implied repeal. A direction on circumstantial evidence that the jury should look to the evidence for any reasonable explanation consistent with innocence is not erroneous, provided it does not require direct evidence of the alternative hypothesis.
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