Appeal from
conviction by High Court.
Murder'
contra. sec. 319 Criminal
Code-Four persons jointly
charged with murdering three
others-Each murder separate
charge at same trial-Law of
Nigeria, differing from English
Law, excludes joining any other
charge (whether murder or
otherwise) with murder
charge-insufficient
corroborative evi(1ence of
death.
Held: Appeal
allowed, conviction quashed.
There is no
need to set out the facts.
Cases
referred to:-
R. v.
Jones, 13 C.A.R. 86 j 1918 2
K.B. 416.
R. v.
Davis, 26 C.A.R. 95.
Appellant in
person.
C. w.
Reece for Crown.
The following
joint judgment was delivered:
KINGDON, C.J., NIGERIA, BUTLER
LLOYD AND BAKER, JJ.
The appellant
was charged jointly with three
other men before Pearson,
Assistant Judge, in the High
Court of the Enugu. Onitsha
Judicial Division with having
murdered three persons, each of
the three alleged murders being
made the subject of a separate
charge at the same trial.
The three
charges were as follows:-
(1) :Murder,
contra. section 319 of the
Criminal Code.
Particulars
OBI BEIWM,
DIKU OWANG, OTU OI{WA BEKUM and
EBA ODU in the month of April,
1940, in the Province of Ogoja,
did murder AGBORA ATAM.
(2) Murder,
Contra. section 319 of the
Criminal Code.
Particulars
OBI BEKUM,
DlKU OWANG, OTU OJ{WA BEKUM and
EBA ODU at the same time and
place did murder an unknown
Munchi man.
(3) Murder,
contra. section 319 of the
Criminal Code.
Particulars
OBI BEKUM,
DlKU OWANG, OTU OJ{WA BEKUM and
EBA ODU at the same time and
place did murder an unknown
Munchi man.
It will be
observed that the second and
third charges are in identical
terms, the man alleged to have
been murdered being in each
case, described as " an unknown
Munchi man." The story of the
prosecution was that the four
accused together with a fifth
man named Boke Bissong conspired
together to kill Agbora A tam
and the two unknown Munchi men
in order to rob them of a box
containing money and other
things; that they carried out
their plan by attacking the
three unsuspecting men on the
main road from Ogoja to Ikom,
killed all three and divided the
spoil; that the bodies of the
two unknown Munchi men were
thrown into a shallow stream of
running water, whilst the body
of Agbora A tam (who was last
seen alive running away wounded
into the' bush) was seen a month
later in the bush by Boke
Hissong; that a month later Hoke
Hissong and the four accused
threw the bone,; of Agbora Atam
into the river, all except, the
head which was hung in a tree;
and that four months later Boke
Bissong took the head and hid it
in the bottom of an Ikpung-'
Nkpa' tree, where it was'
subsequently found by the
police.
The principal
evidence called to support this
story was that of Boke Bissong
himself who was called as the
eleventh witness for the
prosecution' He was of course,
an accomplice and his evidence
required corroboration. If it
had been properly corroborated,
it would have been sl.1fficient
to warrant the conviction of all
four accused of all three
murders. The learned trial
Judge. however. held at the
close of, the case for the
prosecution, that there was not
sufficient evidence against the
first and second accused and
discharged them forthwith. He
called upon the third and fourth
accused for their defence. After
hearing it, the Judge held that
in the case of the fourth
accused there was not sufficient
corroborative evidence of
homicide and discharged him. The
Judge, however, found sufficient
corroboration as against the
third accused, and recorded the
following findings:-
" Find 3rd
accused I Not Guilty.
II Guilty.
III Not
Guilty."
In other
words the Judge acquitted the
third accused on the first
charge of murdering Agbora Atam,
convicted him on the second
charge of murdering " an unknown
Munchi man" and acquitted him on
the third charge of murdering "
an unknown Munchi man." Against
the conviction upon the second
charge the third accused
appealed to this Court.
At the hearing of the appeal,
Counsel for the Crown intimated
that he would not seek to uphold
the conviction, and we gave
formal judgment allowing the
appeal.
There are, in
our view, two reasons, each of
them sufficient in itself, which
necessitated the quashing of
this conviction.
The first is
that the whole trial was bad for
irregularity by the joinder of
the three charges at the one
trial. The Nigerian Law on this
point is materially different
from the English Law. In England
it is a rule of caution that
counts charging other offences
should not be inserted in an
indictment for murder. (Rex
17. Jones, 13 Cr.
App. R. 86 j 1918 2 K.B. 416),
and the rule applies also to the
joinder of more than one charge
of murder in the same
indictment. (Rea v. Davis
26 Cr. App R. 95). But if this
rule of caution is disregarded,
a conviction resulting at the
trial will not necessarily be
quashed when the accused has not
in fact been prejudiced by the
joinder.
In Nigeria,
however, there is an express
statutory prohibition against
such joinder. Rule 3 (1) in the
First Schedule to the Criminal
Procedure Ordinance (Cap. 20)
reads:-
"Charges for
any offences, whether felonies
or " misdemeanours or simple
offences, may be joind in the
same " charge or information if
those charges are founded on the
" same facts, or form or are a
part of a series of offences of
" the same or a similar
character. Provided that no
other " charge shall be joined
with a charge of murder."
and by
section 28 of the Ordinance that
rule has the same effect as if
it were enacted in the ordinance
itself. we read the proviso to
the rule as meaning that no
other charge (whether another
charge of murder or a charge for
a different offence) shall be
joined with a charge for murder.
The violation of this statutory
provision must, of itself,
vitiate the conviction. But even
if the law in Nigeria were the
same as in England we should
have felt compelled in this case
to hold that the joinder so
prejudiced the defence that the
conviction could not stand. In
the first place the joinder of
two counts, 'each in identical
terms, alleging the murder of an
unknown man must inevitably
prejudice the defence. To
demonstrate this it is only
necessary to point out that no
one knows to this day which of
two men the appellant has been
convicted of murdering. And in
the second place the joinder in
fact led, as will hereinafter
appear, to confusion at the
trial in regard to the
respective bodies.
The second
reason necessitating the
quashing of the conviction is
that there was in our view no
corroboration of the evidence of
the eleventh witness alleging
the murder of the two Munchi
men, and the learned trial Judge
found corroboration where none
existed.
At the
hearing of the appeal, counsel
for the Crown intimated that he
would not seek to uphold the
conviction, and we gave formal
judgment allowing the appeal.
There are, in
our view, two reasons, each of
them sufficient in itself, which
necessitated the quashing of
this conviction.
The first is
that the whole trial was bad for
irregularity by the joinder of
the three charges at the one
trial. The Nigerian Law on this
point is materially different
from the English Law. In England
it is a rule of caution that
counts charging other offences
should not be inserted in an
indictment for murder. (Rex
1). Jones, ]3 Cr.
App. R. 86; 19182 K.B. 416), and
the rule applies also to the
joinder of more than one charge
of murder in the same
indictment. (Rex v. Davis
26 Cr. App R. 95). But if this
rule of caution is disregarded,
a conviction resulting at the
trial will not necessarily be
quashed when the accused has not
in fact been prejudiced by the
joinder.
In Nigeria,
however, there is an express
statutory prohibition against
such joinder. Rule 3 (1) in the
First Schedule to the Criminal
Procedure Ordinance (Cap. 20)
reads:-
"Charges for
any offences, whether felonies
or " misdemeanours or simple
offences, may be joind in the
same " charge or information if
those charges are founded on the
" same facts, or form or are a
part of a series of offences of
" the same or a similar
character. Provided that no
other " charge shall be joined
with a charge of murder."
and by
section 28 of the Ordinance that
rule has the same effect as if
it were enacted in the ordinance
itself. 'Ve read the proviso to
the rule as meaning that no
other charge (whether another
charge of murder or a charge for
a different offence) shall be
joined with a charge for murder.
The violation of this statutory
provision must, of itself,
vitiate the conviction. But even
if the law in Nigeria were the
same as in England we should
have felt compelled in thiR case
to hold that the joinder so
prejudiced the defence that the
conviction could not stand. In
the first place the joinder of
two counts, each in identical
terms, alleging the murder of an
unknown man must inevitably
prejudice the defence. To
demonstrate this it is only
necessary to point out that no
one knows to this day which of
two men the appellant has been
convicted of murdering. And in
the second place the joinder in
fact led, as will hereinafter
appear, to confusion at the
trial in regard to the
respective bodies.
The second
reason necessitating the
quashing of the conviction is
that there was in our view no
corroboration of the evidence of
the eleventh witness alleging
the murder of the two Munchi
men, and the learned trial Judge
found corroboration where none
existed.
In most cases
where the question of
corroboration arises the Rex
question is " Is there
independent testimony which
affects the accused by tending
to connect him with the crime?"
But it is also essential that
there should be some evidence,
direct or circumstantial, which
confirms the evidence given by
the accomplice that the crime
has been committed. It is that
vital evidence which is lacking
in the present case, for, apart
from the evidence of the
eleventh witness, there is no
sworn evidence which proves that
either of the unknown Munchi men
is dead. There is the unsworn
statement of the fourteenth
witness, the child Ayi Obi, who
says she saw two bodies in the
stream; but the Judge, rightly
in our view, disregarded her
statement. It is clear that the
necessity of corroborative
evidence proving the death of
the Munchi men was present to
the learned trial Judge's mind,
for he acquitted the fourth
accused expressly because such
evidence was lacking. But in the
case of the appellant he found
such evidence in two places.
First the
thirteenth witness, wife of the
appellant swore
" In the
evening I asked my husband why
he had driven us back. He (third
accused) said they had been
killing some people. "
This the
Judge held to be sufficient
corroboration in the case of the
third accused. In our view it is
no corroboration at all of the
death of the Munchi men. It is
far too :.vague and does not
indicate or suggest that any
particular individual is dead.
Secondly the learned trial Judge
records •• But the absence of
corpus delicti is not fatal
to the prosecution, if the
actual slaying can otherwise be
proved-Halsbury 2nd -Edition
Volume 9 paragraph 768. And here
we have evidence of one dead
body being seen at the locus at
the material time--tenth
witness." But it is perfectly
clear from the evidence that, if
the body seen by the tenth
witness was the body of any of
the three men alleged to have
been murdered, it was the body
of Agbora Atam; it certainly was
not the body of either of the
Munchi men. The Judge then,
owing no doubt to the confusion
created by the joinder of
charges, treated evidence about
the body of one man as
confirming the allegation that
another was dead. The evidence
of the tenth witness was, in
fact, quite useless to confirm
the death of either of the
Munchi men.
These are the
reasons which led us to quash
the conviction of the appellant
upon the charge of murdering one
of the unknown Munchi men.
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