Where the Crown Prosecutor disclaims reliance on consciousness of guilt reasoning but then emphatically invites the jury to treat an accused's silence and alleged lie as evidence of guilt, an Edwards or Zoneff direction is required, and the Crown's conduct in creating the error may favour acquittal over retrial. Section 55F(2)(b) of the Jury Act 1977 (NSW) does not require a trial judge to ask a specific question about the likelihood of reaching a unanimous verdict; the court may be satisfied of the precondition from the circumstances including the length of deliberation and repeated indications of deadlock.
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