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The Murray Direction refers to an instruction given by a judge to the jury when the prosecution’s case relies heavily on uncorroborated evidence from a single witness.

This comes from the case R v Murray (1987) 11 NSWLR 12, where it was determined that juries should be cautious when convicting solely based on such evidence.

 

Single Witness Testimony

If the prosecution’s case depends on one person’s account, with no supporting evidence, the jury is warned to scrutinise this testimony carefully.

 

Caution in Conviction

The judge directs the jury that, although they can convict on the basis of uncorroborated evidence, they must be sure of the witness’s credibility and reliability before doing so.

 

Protection Against Unreliable Evidence

This direction helps protect against wrongful convictions by ensuring that juries don’t rely too heavily on evidence that hasn’t been confirmed by other sources.

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