The case confirms that detailed directions characterising a complainant's note as circumstantial evidence, addressing its possible meanings and the conditions for its use, are sufficient to comply with the Evidence Act 1977 (Qld) ss 99 and 102 and to avoid any miscarriage of justice. A retrial direction is not mandatory in every retrial; the question is whether a miscarriage of justice results from its absence in the particular circumstances. An initially incorrect response by a trial judge to a jury request does not occasion a miscarriage of justice where the error is promptly corrected in the jury's presence.
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