Where a trial judge rejects an accused's evidence on the basis of plausibility rather than demeanour, the trial judge enjoys no relevant advantage over the appellate court, and a doubt entertained by the appellate court ought to have been entertained by the trial judge. The Liberato direction requires acquittal not only where the accused's evidence is believed, but where it might reasonably be true, even if not affirmatively believed. In sexual offence cases turning on conflicting accounts of complainant and accused, contemporaneous text messages and communications may be significant in assessing the reasonable possibility of the accused's account.
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