Where forensic evidence is susceptible to an innocent explanation supported by the complainant's own testimony, the ability of that evidence to implicate the accused depends on the credibility and reliability of the complainant, and a verdict based on such evidence may be unsafe and unsatisfactory. A prosecutor's statement that the complainant's evidence stands 'uncontradicted' constitutes prohibited comment on the accused's failure to give evidence under s 18(1)(b) of the Evidence Act 1929 (SA). Where a retrial would proceed on a fundamentally different basis due to acquittals on related counts, a verdict of acquittal should be substituted.
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