A Liberato direction is not required as a matter of law and should only be given where there is a real risk the jury may confuse disbelief of the accused with proof beyond reasonable doubt. Where the accused did not give sworn evidence and his exculpatory account is only in a police interview, a Liberato direction may be positively undesirable. The Anderson three-step formulation is preferred over the Brennan J formulation in Liberato.
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