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Citation
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Judgment date
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| August 2007 |
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Acquittal upheld where disputed land ownership and bona fide claim of right defeated proof of malice.
* Criminal law – theft and disobedience of lawful order – requirement to prove malice/dishonesty; defence of bona fide claim of right.
* Criminal procedure – limits of criminal courts in determining disputed land ownership; necessity of civil proceedings for title disputes.
* Evidence – effect (and limits) of prior civil judgments and second appeals on criminal liability.
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27 August 2007 |
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Conviction quashed for insufficient identification of stolen property and improper evidentiary burden on the applicant.
Criminal law – Theft/Burglary – Identification of stolen property – Requirement for distinct marks or proof linking seized items to alleged theft; Evidence – Burden of proof – Improper shifting of burden to accused to produce receipts; Search and seizure – Legality and evidentiary consequences of searches conducted in accused's absence; Conviction unsafe for insufficiency of evidence.
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14 August 2007 |
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Convictions for gang rape quashed for insufficient evidence, unreliable identification and unproven age.
* Criminal law – Gang rape – Sufficiency of evidence – Identification in darkness – Need for corroboration or warning when complainant’s evidence is weak – Proof of victim’s age.
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14 August 2007 |
| July 2007 |
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Conviction for armed robbery quashed due to insufficient proof linking accused to the stolen items and reasonable doubts.
Criminal law – Armed robbery – Identification of stolen property – Proof required to link items found in accused’s possession to victim; Possession evidence; Evaluation of witness credibility and reasonable doubt – appellate intervention to quash conviction where prosecution case leaves doubt.
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30 July 2007 |
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24 July 2007 |
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Admission and recent possession established the applicant’s guilt for store breaking and stealing; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – store breaking and stealing; identification of stolen property by circumstantial evidence; admission at informal meeting; doctrine of recent possession; sufficiency of evidence to support conviction.
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24 July 2007 |
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Conviction based on uncorroborated identification by a very young, sleepy child in poor lighting is unsafe and was quashed.
Criminal law – Rape – Identification evidence – Reliability of a very young child’s identification – Necessity for corroboration where identification circumstances are weak – Appellate review of voir dire and sufficiency of investigation.
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24 July 2007 |
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Rape conviction quashed where victim's age was not established and no medical expert evidence was obtained.
* Criminal law – Rape – Proof of victim’s age – inconsistent ages in charge sheet and testimony – necessity of medical/expert age evidence where age is disputed.
* Criminal law – Rape – Allegation of marriage or spousal status must be proved; unsupported claim of ‘husband’ insufficient to negate the charge.
* Evidence – Failure to call necessary expert evidence can be fatal to prosecution’s case and justify quashing conviction.
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9 July 2007 |
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Conviction for rape quashed where prosecution failed to prove the victim's age; sentence set aside.
* Criminal law – Rape – statutory rape – necessity of proving victim's age where age is an essential element of the offence. * Evidence – sufficiency – conviction unsafe where essential fact (victim's age) not proved. * Prosecution conduct – failure to prove an essential element and state attorney declining to support conviction.
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9 July 2007 |
| June 2007 |
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The appellant’s conviction based on doubtful identification without corroboration was unsafe and was quashed.
* Criminal law – Identification evidence – Reliability of visual identification in darkness and after sand/dust thrown into complainant’s face – Caution required.
* Criminal procedure – Corroboration – Need for material corroboration for identification evidence; application of Waziri Thumanani guidance.
* Evidence – Assessment of child witness and police evidence; hearsay and unsworn testimony ruled to have no evidential value.
* Appeal – Unsafe conviction – conviction quashed where sole identification evidence was doubtful and uncorroborated.
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15 June 2007 |
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11 June 2007 |
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Conviction quashed where night-time identification of a fleeing suspect failed the Waziri Aman test.
Criminal law – Identification evidence – Visual identification at night of a fleeing suspect – Waziri Aman test for identification – Conviction unsafe where conditions unfavourable and details absent.
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6 June 2007 |
| May 2007 |
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Rape conviction quashed where identification was unreliable and penetration was not proved.
Criminal law – Rape: requirement to prove penetration; Medical evidence (PF3) may not corroborate penetration. Identification: caution required with identification by witnesses of tender years; need for corroboration or warning. Conviction unsafe when resting on unreliable identification and absence of proof of penetration.
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8 May 2007 |
| April 2007 |
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Convictions based solely on uncorroborated, retracted confessions are unsafe and were quashed.
* Criminal law – Evidence – Retracted (repudiated) confessions – Requirement for corroboration before conviction. * Criminal procedure – Subordinate courts – Voluntariness of cautioned statements may be determined from record; no formal trial-within-trial required. * Extra-judicial statements – Scope and necessity to test truth; danger of broad multi-incident confessions.
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16 April 2007 |
| March 2007 |
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An equivocal guilty plea to technical offences requires detailed recording of admissions; conviction quashed and retrial ordered.
Criminal law – Plea of guilty – Requirement that plea be unequivocal – Trial court’s duty to explain and record accused’s admission to each ingredient of a technical offence – Equivocal plea warrants quashing conviction and ordering retrial – Deduction of time served on reconviction.
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26 March 2007 |
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19 March 2007 |
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Appeal against rape conviction of an 11‑year‑old dismissed; child evidence and caution statement found corroborated and admissible.
* Criminal law — Sexual offences — Evidence of child of tender years — requirement for in camera proceedings (s.186(3) CPA) and effect of non‑compliance. * Corroboration of child testimony by medical and witness evidence. * Admissibility of caution statements and complaints about delay under s.50/51 — appellate limitation where issue not raised at trial. * Trial judge’s questions to witnesses — clarifying role vs. prosecutorial bias. * Appellate review of sufficiency of consideration of defence and credibility findings.
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2 March 2007 |
| February 2007 |
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Applicant failed to prove ownership; sale by estate administrator/beneficiary held lawful and application dismissed with costs.
Land ownership dispute – proof of title and possession; estate administration – authority to administer and disposition of deceased’s property; validity of sale by an administered estate; evidentiary burden on claimant in land disputes.
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28 February 2007 |
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13 February 2007 |
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Plaintiff’s plaint sufficiently pleaded authorship, publication and defamatory meaning; preliminary objection dismissed, costs to follow.
Defamation — Pleading requirements — Whether plaint discloses cause of action — Allegations of authorship, publication, defamatory meaning and damage — Joint and several liability of author and publisher.
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8 February 2007 |