In sexual offence proceedings, a Murray direction (requiring scrutiny of the complainant's evidence with great care) may be given in substance through a reliability warning, provided it does not breach the prohibition in s 294AA of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) against warning that complainants as a class are unreliable. The specific form of words used is not critical as long as the substance of the direction is conveyed. In a judge-alone trial, a finding of guilt beyond reasonable doubt necessarily incorporates a finding that hypotheses consistent with innocence have been excluded, and it is not necessary for the trial judge to express findings in those specific terms.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 4 later cases that cite this judgment.
3 of the 4 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.