marwa wangiti mwita and another vs republic 2000 tzca 23 12 june 2000

IN m COURT OF APPEAL OF TANZANIA AT MV.AHM. (CORAH; And LUQAEIHGIRA, .J .A .) CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 6 OF 1995 B-iTWi-iiJN 1 . MAKWA VfANGITI HWITA J 2 . BONIFACii MA5IKU MGdNDI | ...................' AND Tfiu! rt;i'DELI3........................ ...........................IJ&PGNICNT (A p p eal from the c o n v i c t i o n o f the E igh C ou rt o f T anzania a t Kusoraa) (Mas an c h e , J . ) d a ted the 5 th day o f Decem ber, 199^ in C rim in a l S e s s io n s Case No •, 181 c>f_ 199J. JUDGMENT OF THti COURT LUGAK1NGIRA, J . A . ; The a p p e l l a n t s , Karwa V .a n g iti Mwita and B o n ifa c e M asiku M gendi, were c o n v i c t e d o f murder a t a t r i a l h o ld e n by the High C ou rt a t Musorna. They were th en f i r s t and fo u r t h a c c u s e d r e s p e c t i v e l y , the s e c o n d and t h i r d a c c u s e d were a c q u i t t e d . The in fo r m a tio n had a l le g e d th a t on 1 8 .9 .8 8 , a t Kewanja v i l l a g e in T a rm e d i s t r i c t , the fo u r m urdered one h a sh a J erem iah , The murder t o o k p la c e a t the home o f PW1 who was c e l e b r a t i n g a m a rria g e , and the d e c e a s e d , a r e s id e n t o f G e it a , was an in v i t e d g u e s t a t the c e le b r a tio n s . Around 7 .3 0 p .m . on the s a id day, a gang o f armed ro b b e r s d e scen d ed upon the prem ises and made away w ith v a r io u s a r t i c l e s a f t e r fir in g a sh ot. The s h o t fou n d the d e ce a se d who d ie d from s e v e r e in t e r n a l b l e e d in g . At the t r i a l , PW1 and h is b r o t h e r PV/2, cla im e d t o have i d e n t i f i e d the appel]_ants among the gang and s a i d th ey were the ones who had g u n s. PW1 s a i d th a t he knew the f i r s t a p p e lla n t by fa ce and name and th a t the .../ 2 s e c o n d a p p e l la n t , whose name he d id n o t know, used to move a b ou t w ith the f i r s t a p p e lla n t. Fvv2 s a id th a t he d id n o t know the a p p e l l a n t s ' names bu t he i d e n t i f i e d them by t h e i r fa c e s as th ey used to fr e q u e n t h is k io s k . There was a lamp in the h o u se , a humble o u t f i t o f a bedroom and a s i t t i n g room o n l y . The two w itn e s s e s s a id th a t th ey were in the bedroom and t h e i r g u e s ts in the s i t t i n g room when dogs b ark ed o u t s i d e . PV/2 went ou t t o in q u ir e on ly to come fa c e t o fa c e w ith a gang o f fo u r o r m ore, one o f whom o r d e r e d him back in t o the house a t g u n p o in t. T h is was s a i d to have been the s e c o n d a p p e l la n t , A n oth er gunman s t o o d in the doorway and o r d e r e d e v ery on e t o l i e down. he was s a i d to have been th e f i r s t a p p e l l a n t . Then fo llo w e d the p lu n d e r and th e g u n s h o t• I t seems the i n c id e n t was r e p o r t e d t o the p o l i c e w ith p r o m p titu d e . The p r o s e c u t io n e v id e n c e r e g a r d in g the a p p e l l a n t s ’ a r r e s t was e i t h e r in c ons i s t e n t , c o n t r a d ic t o r y o r n o n -e x is t e n t and the t r i a l ju dge c o n v e n ie n t ly a v o id e d g o in g in t o d e t a i l s . \ve p ro p o se to do the sam e, s e e i n g , as we d o, th a t i t w i l l o c c a s io n no harm, and m ention o n ly some r e l a t e d a s p e c t s . F ir s t, the f i r s t a p p e lla n t a ttem p ted t o run away when he saw the p o l i c e ; s e co n d , g o in g by PV.!5 , the s e c o n d a ^ e l l a u t was : o t at h c:„. en a .e p o l i c e a r r iv e d t h e r e • T h ird , when the f i r s t a p p e l l a n t 's house was s e a r c h e d , a p i e c e o f khanga (p e r PVrl) o r t a b le c l o t h s (p e r PV.5) were fo u n d . N e ith e r o f t h i s was te n d e re d in e v id e n c e . The s e a r c h a t the se co n d a p p e l l a n t ’ s house "unearthed a camera (xJxh. i - j ) . In t h e i r d e fe n c e s the f i r s t a p p e lla n t s t a t e d th a t he was a t home th rou gh ou t on the m a t e r ia l day, and c a l l e d h is fa t h e r t o s u p p o rt him , w h ile the se co n d a p p e lla n t s t a t e d th a t he l e f t fo r Sh in yanga on 1 ^ . 9 . 8b and re tu r n e d on 1 . 1 0 , 08 , and p rod u ced docum ents to th a t e f f e c t . lie found h is two w ives a r r e s t e d and was in tu rn a r r e s t e d when he went to the p o l i c e s t a t i o n to in q u ir e in t o t h i s . The t r i a l judge c o n v i c t e d the f i r s t a p p e lla n t on the e v id e n ce o f i d e n t i f i c a t i o n as w e l l as th e a c t o f a tte m p tin g t o run away; he c o n v ic t e d the s e c o n d a p p e lla n t on the •• • / - J - e v id e n c e o f i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o n l y . He r e j e c t e d the a l i b i s f o r n o n -co m p lia n ce w ith s e c t i o n 19^ (^ ) o f the C r im in a l P roced u re A c t , 1985* B e fo r e u s , h r . G a la t i Mwantembe a ppeared f o r the a p p e lla n t s and a t t a c k e d the e v id e n ce o f i d e n t i f i c a t i o n . He o b s e rv e d in the main th a t th e a p p e lla n t s were n e v e r a t arty tim e named by PVvl o r PVJ2. He su b m itte d a l s o th a t the a p p e l l a n t s ' a l i b i s were im p ro p e r ly r e j e c t e d in view o f the p r o v is io n s o f s u b s e c t io n (6 ) o f s e c t i o n 19 ^» M r. Mwantembe a ls o le v e lle d c r itic is m on the e v id e n c e o f p o s s e s s io n o f a r t i c l e s c o n s id e r e d r e le v a n t t o the ca s e b u t we th in k th a t was u n n e ce ssa ry w ince th e t r i a l judge d id n o t b ase h is d e c i s i o n on th a t e v i d e n c e . M r. Kabonde f o r the R e p u b lic r e s i s t e d the a p p e a l on a l l the g ro u n d s. Vj'e th in k the most im p orta n t q u e s tio n in t h i s a p p e a l i s w hether the a p p e lla n t s were i d e n t i f i e d a t the s c e n e o f c r im e . A f t e r a n x io u s c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f the e v id e n c e , we th in k th ere i s m e rit in i-ir. Kwantembe *s c r i t i c ism . I t was n ot in d is p u te th a t n e it h e r a p p e lla n t was ment io n e d by iVH o r PVv2 b e fo r e t h e i r a r r e s t , even though PW1 knew the f i r s t a p p e lla n t w e l l . The a p p e l l a n t s ’ a r r e s t a p p a re n tly carco in th e wake o f some s u s p i c i o u s a r t i c l e s b e in g found a t t h e i r hom es; in f a c t we n o te th a t a t one s ta g e as many as 22 p e rs o n s were ch a rg ed w ith th e murder b e f o r e the D i s t r i c t C o u r t. The e v id e n c e o i Fw5 A s s is t a n t I n s p e c t o r iteuben a l s o le a v e s no doubt th a t the s e a r c h was a g e n e r a l r a t h e r than a s p e c ific o p e r a t io n and the h in t on s u s p ic io u s homes came from v i l l a g e r s r a t h e r than PW1, d e s p it e the l a t t e r * s presen ce. PVo r e l a t e d the o p e r a t io n th u s. On 2 6 .9 .0 0 , I remember I was in T arim e. I was t o l d t o £o t o b e r e n g o t i where i t was s a i d th a t some a r t i c l e s s t o l e n in the co u r s e o f murder were se e n . . . 1 went t o o e r e n g e t i and r e p o r t e d t o the 0 .0 .1 ). the l a t e K ta b irw a . . . ,/h On 2 9 .9 * 8 8 , we went w ith him to G esarya v illa g e . L a te r we a r r iv e d in the v i l l a g e , we g o t the Chairm an. Then we were t ip p e d abou t the houses th a t had the s t o l e n a r t i c l e s , V»e were t ip p e d by the v i l l a g e r s . . . . At the house o f K asik u K gendi we g o t a camera and a t the house o f Marwa V /a n giti we g o t t a b le c l o t h e s (s ic ) . A l l t h is time we were w ith the com p la in a n t • The w itn e s s r e i t e r a t e d f i v e tim es in c r o s s -e x a m in a tio n th a t the e x e r c i s e ■‘was an o p e r a t io n ,-- s o much so th a t he c o u ld n ot r e c a l l the number o f h ou ses s e a r c h e d and many p o l i c e o f f i c e r s were i n v o lv e d . We th in k the f a i l u r e o f PW1 in p a r t i c u l a r t o name a t l e a s t the f i r s t a p p e lla n t b e fo r e o r during; the o p e r a t io n was n o t c o n s i s t e n t w ith i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f any o f the b a n d i t s . I t i s in d eed d o u b t fu l to what e x te n t he a llo w e d h im s e lf to ob serve the in v a d ers c o n s id e r in g th a t when PW2 was d r iv e n b a ck in t o the bedroom , PW1 had d is a p p e a r e d : he had a p p a r e n tly d iv e d f l a t on to the s i t t i n g room f l o o r . The a b i l i t y o f a w itn e s s t o name a s u s p e c t a t the e a r l i e s t o p p o r tu n ity is an a l l- im p o r t a n t a ssu ra n ce o f h i s r e l i a b i l i t y , in the same way as u n e x p la in e d d e la y o r com p lete f a i l u r e t o do s o s h o u ld put a pru d en t c o u r t to in q u ir y . The f a c t o r s s e t ou t in \vazdri ^jnani v .P . / I 980/ T .L .R . 250 , t o w hich the le a r n e d judge r e f e r r e d , a re n ot in te n d e d t o be e x h a u stiv e in d e te rm in in g c r e d i b l e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n . V;e a re u n a b le , on our p a r t , t o h o ld th a t i d e n t i f i c a t i o n was in t h i s ca s e p ro v e d beyon d re a s o n a b le doubt in the absen ce o f any r e p o r t a g a in s t the a p p e l l a n t s . The rem a in in g m a tters may be d is p o s e d o f b r i e f l y . T here was the a s p e c t o f the f i r s t a p p e l l a n t 's ru n n in g away when he saw the p o l i c e . The t r i a l judge f i r s t o b s e r v e d , and c o r r e c t l y s o , th a t n o t a l l f l i g h t was n e c e s s a r i l y 3. m a n ife s t a t io n o f g u i l t y but some p e o p le run aw ay from p o lice m e n ju s t t o a v o id b o t h e r . lie h e ld , how ever, th a t i t was su ch a m a n ife s t a t io n in t h is ca se as the- f i r s t a p p e lla n t was the o n ly p e rso n to run away. It is apparen t th a t t h i s o b s e r v a t io n was i n c o r r e c t e i t h e r as re g a r d s the o c c a s io n o f the f i r s t a p p e l l a n t 's a r r e s t o r in the c o n t e x t o f the o p e r a t io n g e n e r a l l y . The im p re ssio n one g e ts i s t h a t o f f l i g h t a l l a rou n d in the co u rse o f the o p e r a t io n , J ia r lie r in h is judgm ent the le a r n e d judge h im s e lf o b s e rv e d ; *-A p paren tly when th e se sc-archc-s were made b y the p o l i c e , the a c c u s e d had f l e d . T h e ir homes, th a t i s t o s a y , were s e a r c h e d in t h e i r a b s e n c e .'1 And as re g a rd s the f i r s t a p p e l l a n t ’ s a r r e s t , PW'5 s a id ; -We then went to Marwa W a n g iti. The men ran away. They had f l e d . We then a r r e s t e d t h e i r w iv e s .'' T his i s in d e e d r e f l e c t e d in the f a c t th a t o f the t h i r t e e n s u s p e c t s in the i n i t i a l in fo r m a tio n f i l e d b e f o r e the High C o u r t, s i x were women. And t o u n d e r s co re the p e r c e p t i o n o f the p o l i c e as a b o t h e r , th e se in n o ce n t women were k ept in- c u s to d y f o r more than s i x y e a r s b e f o r e th ey were d is c h a r g e d , u n t r ie d , w ith o u t s o much as a word o f a p o lo g y . I t i s t h e r e f o r e c l e a r to us th a t the co n d u ct o f the f i r s t a p p e lla n t was n e it h e r p e c u lia r n o r , a p p a r e n t ly , was i t w ith ou t j u s t i f i c a t i o n . F i n a l l y , we a g ree w ith Mr. Mwantembe th a t i t was im proper f o r the t r i a l ju dge t o t e l l the a s s e s s o r s t o r e j e c t the a l i b i s , and f o r h im s e lf s u b s e q u e n tly t o r e j e c t them, m erely f o r n o n -co m p lia n ce w ith s u b s e c t io n (k) o f s e c tio n 19^ o f the C r im in a l P ro ce d u re A c t , The a bsen ce o f n o t i c e r e q u ir e d by the p r o v i s i o n does n o t mandate o r a u t h o r is e the o u t r ig h t r e j e c t i o n o f an a l i b i but in a s s is t a n c e w ith s u b s e c t io n ( 6 ) , b u t, the o m is s io n may a f f e c t the w eight t o be p la c e d on i t . V.e ca n n ot be c e r t a i n th a t had the le a r n e d judge a p p roa ch ed the s u b je c t on th a t u n d ersta n d in g he w ou ld , f o r in s t a n c e , have n e c e s s a r i l y found u n im p ressiv e the s e co n d a p p e l l a n t !s m e d ica l c e r t i f i c a t e and r e c e i p t s e v id e n c in g h is p r e s e n c e a t oh in ya n ga a t the m a t e r ia l tim e , A fte r a l l , he was o n ly r e q u ir e d to r a i s e a r e a s o n a b le d o u b t. B e s id e s , the a c t o f ta k in g h im s e lf t o the oO* - 6 - p o lic e s t a t io n was n o t, to our minds, c o n s is te n t with g u i l t . l o r th ese r e a s o n s , we th in k the g u i l t o f the a p p e lla n ts was not p roved beyond reason able doubt. Vto a llo w the a p p e a l, quash the c o n v ic t io n s and sen ten ce o f death and d ir e c t h e ir r e le a s e from c u s to d y . DATLiD a t BAS /^iLAAM t h is 12th. day o f June, 2000. L .M. MAiUME JU^TICiD OF j&f.iSAL }' .H. KloAIIGA JU pTrS OF AFPML ,::.iT' ^ rcr:’GiPA JU^TICJJ of appeal I c e r t i f y th at th is is a. true copy o f the o r i g i n a l . ( A oGo T-:VvAitldA ) DEiPttTY I&GIogRAR