Text messages sent by a witness during and shortly after a violent incident are admissible under s 66 of the Evidence Act 2011 (ACT) as evidence of the truth of the facts asserted, where the events were fresh in the witness's memory. A joint criminal enterprise to confine and make demands with threats may be inferred from the conduct of the parties (one making demands, the other enforcing with threats of violence), but a joint enterprise to inflict actual bodily harm will not be found where the evidence shows the co-accused attempted to restrain the violence. Threats to cable-tie and transport a person may be found to be part of a standover process rather than an attempt to detain for an advantage, where the threats are equally consistent with coercing compliance with demands.
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