Weissensteiner v R [1993] HCA 65

ON 17 NOVEMBER 1993, the High Court of Australia delivered Weissensteiner v R [1993] HCA 65; (1993) 178 CLR 217; (1993) 68 A Crim R 251 (17 November 1993).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/high_ct/178clr217.html

The accused’s election to exercise the right to silence is not free from consequences. In this case, the majority of the High Court held that the trial judge did not make an error by directing the jury that the prosecution’s inferences could be more safely drawn when “the accused elects not to give evidence of relevant facts which can be easily perceived to be in his knowledge”.

Mason CJ, Deane and Dawson JJ said: “Much depends upon the circumstances of the particular case and a jury should not be invited to take into account the failure of the accused to give evidence unless that failure is clearly capable of assisting them in the evaluation of the evidence before them.”