An acquittal on a charge of affray is not necessarily inconsistent with a conviction for recklessly causing serious injury arising from the same incident, because the elements of the two offences differ — in particular, affray requires proof that the violence was such as to terrify a bystander of reasonable firmness and courage, which is not an element of recklessly causing serious injury. A jury may rationally accept parts of a witness's evidence (as to the attack on the victim) while rejecting other parts (as to the attack on a different person), particularly where the accepted evidence is corroborated.
The full text is available to signed-in members.