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Citation
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Judgment date
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| August 1995 |
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Appeal dismissed: eyewitness identification upheld; murder conviction and accessory sentence affirmed.
Criminal law – Eyewitness identification – Contemporaneous observation and prompt reporting; identification parade non-identification not fatal where accused absent; credibility of corroborated witnesses; murder v. manslaughter – evidence of assault and post-mortem asphyxiation supports murder conviction; sentencing – accessory after the fact, five years not excessive.
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23 August 1995 |
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Whether provocation reduces murder to manslaughter where the appellant admitted stabbing the sick husband and attempted concealment.
Criminal law – Murder – Provocation – Whether provocation reduced murder to manslaughter where accused admitted stabbing sleeping, sickly victim; cautioned statements and language competence; concealment and absence of struggle indicative of malice aforethought.
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23 August 1995 |
(From the conviction and sentence of the High Court of Tanzania at Iringa, Mchome, J) Evidence - Identification - Identified persons not strangers to the identifying person - circumstances favorable for unmistakable identity. Evidence - Identification - Identification parade - Appellants not identified because they were not in the parade - Whether failure of identification. |
23 August 1995 |
| June 1995 |
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28 June 1995 |
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Appellate court affirmed conviction for grievous harm, rejecting afterthought self-defence and finding no double punishment.
* Criminal law — Grievous harm (s.225 Penal Code) — self-defence — burden and credibility of afterthought allegations; evidence of eyewitnesses and contemporaneous complaint.
* Criminal procedure — Double punishment (s.21 Penal Code) — employer disciplinary measures do not constitute criminal punishment for double jeopardy protection.
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23 June 1995 |
Criminal Practice and Procedure - Sentencing - Severe reprimand by employer and conviction by Court for the same wrong - Whether punished twice for the same offence. |
23 June 1995 |
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Retracted extra‑judicial statements may sustain murder convictions if voluntary and supported by corroborating conduct under Section 23.
* Criminal law – admissibility of extra‑judicial statements – retracted or repudiated statements must be received with caution but may be relied upon if trial court is fully satisfied they are true. * Criminal law – confession – statement need not be a formal confession to be admissible. * Criminal law – corroboration – conduct of one accused may corroborate confession of co‑accused. * Criminal law – common intention (Section 23) – presence and conduct at scene can establish participation.
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16 June 1995 |
Evidence — Confession — Repudiated— Allegation of threats in extracting confession - Whether such confession admissible - Section 29 Evidence Act 1967. Evidence - Corroboration - Confessions of co-accused - Must be corroborated before founding a conviction. |
16 June 1995 |
Criminal law - Murder - Defence of provocation and self-defence - When available. Criminal law - Murder - Malice aforethought - Manifestations of |
16 June 1995 |
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A single nighttime visual identification with contradictions cannot safely support a murder conviction without independent corroboration.
Criminal law – Identification evidence – Visual identification at night by single witness – Reliability and contradictions – Need for caution and independent corroboration – Conviction unsafe if identification not established beyond reasonable doubt.
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16 June 1995 |
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Admissibility of confessions under S.27/29 and sufficiency of corroboration; appeal dismissed and convictions affirmed.
* Criminal law – admissibility of confessions – voluntariness – Sections 27 and 29 Evidence Act; trial‑within‑trial. * Corroboration – conviction based on co‑accused confessions – recovery and identification of stolen firearms. * Use of prior Court of Appeal judgment as evidence – relevance where alternative sufficient evidence exists.
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16 June 1995 |
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Repudiated confessions admissible under s.29 if true and corroborated; convictions upheld and appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – Evidence – Extra-judicial confessions – Voluntariness – Sections 27 and 29, Evidence Act – Repudiated confessions – Admission where not induced by torture and corroborated; Corroboration by surviving witness and recovery of stolen property; Use of prior court judgment as exhibit unnecessary where independent evidence suffices.
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16 June 1995 |
Evidence - Identification of accused person - Identification done in the dark of night - Whether sufficient to found a conviction. |
16 June 1995 |
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Uncorroborated dying declaration found unreliable; conviction and death sentence quashed.
Criminal law – Murder – Conviction based solely on dying declaration – Necessity for reliability and corroboration; Identification evidence; Conduct of accused as corroboration; Absence of weapon undermining accusation.
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12 June 1995 |
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Identification reliable but fight raised reasonable doubt as to malice; murder conviction quashed and manslaughter conviction substituted.
Criminal law – Identification by spouse – reliability of former wife's identification; Cautioned statement – retracted confession but whole contents must be considered; Homicide – distinction between murder and manslaughter where killing occurs during a fight; Appeal – substitution of conviction and sentence where murder not proved beyond reasonable doubt.
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12 June 1995 |
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Court upheld murder conviction based on reliable identification, corroborative dying declaration, and rejection of inconsistent alibi.
Criminal law – Murder – Identification evidence and dying declaration – Adequacy of lighting, proximity, and corroborative forensic evidence; Alibi – inconsistencies in witness statements undermining defence.
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12 June 1995 |
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Repeated, intentional stabbings of estranged spouse constituted murder; no provocation, appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – murder v manslaughter – legal provocation – credibility of eyewitnesses and alibi – repeated stabbing as evidence of intent – upholding conviction and death sentence.
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12 June 1995 |
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Appellant’s accidental-discharge defence rejected; eyewitness credible and conviction for murder affirmed.
Criminal law – Murder; eyewitness credibility; alleged contradictions not necessarily fatal; accidental discharge defence examined and rejected; post-offence conduct as circumstantial evidence of malice aforethought.
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12 June 1995 |
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Confession and forensic evidence upheld murder conviction for deliberate poisoning; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – murder by poisoning; admissibility and voluntariness of confession made at village meeting; forensic evidence (Chief Government Chemist) establishing presence and lethal quantity of diazinon; accident defence and hostile witness impact on safety of conviction.
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12 June 1995 |