A retracted police statement of a complainant is admissible as a prior inconsistent statement under ss 38, 103 and 106 of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), and once admitted for a non-hearsay purpose, constitutes evidence of the facts asserted by operation of s 60. Section 43(2) does not limit this operation. The risk that a jury may give 'too much weight' to a written statement does not constitute unfair prejudice for the purposes of s 137. A Zoneff direction is not required where consciousness of guilt evidence is used to rebut a defence of accident in a circumstantial case and there is no risk the jury will reason directly from lies to guilt.
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