19781215 TZHC Dodoma

!i'- t' IN T117 HIGH COURT OP TtT'Y'NIA S ...T DODOMA CRININL APPEAL No. 150 OF 1978 • c. MISC .CRIMTa CAIE N o. 5 OF 1978 (Original Cri I Og e. 1To. 240 of 1975 of the • flistrict Court of •llodom District at: Dodo Before F.S.Mshote, L3q., Resident Magistrate. NK'JAWI sf0 NGHYILA .......... ) SABU Sf0 MWIH.MBI ...•".•"...) MGHUGWA S10 SABU .... , APiLJ1\TS NTUGO S/0 NG-UNGU MABICHI S/O MAG1dG versus :T)r;:rr THE ''DTTDT TI' j UJJJJJ.. 0 o . . .-. . • • • . 0 t J.J.) '.JJ. _Lj J U D G M E N T CHIPETA, J. I am far from persued that the charges of ro''ory with violence and injuring animals were proved beyond reasonable doubt against any of the appellants. It was conceded by all the prosecution witnesses who claimed to have identified the five appellants that it was a dark night. None of them claimed to have seen and noted the faces of the bandits. All the witnesses said that they only identified the culprits by their voices. As was conceded by the learned senior state att'rney, there was: no other evidence to corroborate the evidence of identification, and identification of the culprits 1 was the king—pin of the prosecution's case. For my part, I am averse to taking identific - tion by voice as a safe and reliable means of identification. The a-Vondant risks in accepting such evidence of identification and acting upon it in the absence of any other credible evidence to remove the possibility of mistake are much too obvious. - 2 - For, these rc'sons, I am of the consAorccl npinion that it would be unsafe to. uphold these :convictiofls which, incilentally, the Republic declined to support. Accor.ing1y, the convictions 'ro horooy quashed, and snt.ences and orders of compensation..' set aside. The appellants, shall forthwith be released from incarco'ation unless further detained in some other Iwfu1 connoction B. D CLII IT JUDGE DODOMA 15th Decemher, •'