A medical practitioner at a public hospital is not a 'person in authority' for the purposes of the confessions rule under s 10 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1894 (Qld) or the common law, and the unfairness discretion to exclude confessional evidence is not enlivened where there is no illegality or impropriety by law enforcement officers or their agents. A trial judge's failure to summarise key defence evidence and direct the jury on the consequences of accepting it may result in a miscarriage of justice even where the prosecution case appears strong.
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