In a judge-alone trial, a bare statement that the judge has given themselves a s 165 warning or good character direction, without reasoning explaining how the warning was reconciled with the verdict, fails to satisfy s 133(2) and (3) of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) and constitutes an error of law. Where the Crown case depends on a single witness whose credibility is seriously challenged, the circumstantial evidence must be capable of corroborating the witness's account; if it instead supports reasonable possibilities consistent with innocence, the verdict will be unreasonable. Call charge records showing the timing and duration of phone calls, without evidence of what was said, cannot support an inference as to the content of those calls.
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