An exculpatory statement by an accused to police, and its adoption by co-accused who hear it and fail to contradict it, does not constitute a 'confession or admission' within s 8(2) of the Criminal Law Interrogation and Detention Act 1995 (Tas); it is the falsity of the assertion, established by other evidence, that is probative of guilt. [name withheld] v R does not preclude a trial judge from addressing in the summing up the question of why an accomplice would lie, where the defence has squarely raised the accomplice's credibility as the central issue at trial. A trial judge is not required to use any specific form of words in an accomplice corroboration warning, including a specific reference to the risk of convicting an innocent person.
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