Appeal Court, 26th Oct., 1940.
Manslaughter con.
325 C.C.-no certainty as to
cause of death-Appeal allowed.
Held: It is not sufficient to
prove that the act of the accused
person could have caused death. of
the possibility that death may
have been due to other cause~ is
not excluded, the conviction
cannot stand.
The facts are sufficiently set out
in the judgment.
O. O. Alaklja for
Appellant.
Reece for Crown.
The following joint judgment was
delivered :-
KI:NGDON, C.J., NIGERIA, PETRIDES,
C.J., GOLD COAST AND GRAHAM PAUL.,
C.J, SIERRA LEONE.
In this. case the Appellant was
convicted in the High Court of the
Enugu-Onitsha Division of the
rr:amlal1ghter of one Joseph
Allyanwu The prosecution case was
that the Appellant injected the
deceased in the buttock thereby
causing an infection from which
the deceased died. There is only
one point raised on the appeal,
namely: was the cause of death
proved? The material evidence on
this point is that of the 3rd
witness for the prosecution. the
Medical Practitioner who performed
the post-mortem examination on the
body of the deceased' He says:---
.
On 11th April, 1940 I conducted a
post-mortem on Joseph Anyanwu
identified to me by Ekechuku-Death
had taken place about 48 hours
before The right leg, thigh and
hip bigger circumference than left
crackling with emphysema-in right
buttock-wound It" long caused by
sharp instrument-out of the wound
came blackish fluid-I incised it
and saw 3' deep and 4" in diameter
a slough emphysematous
mass-surrounding parts showed
lesser decay but were also
emphysematous-it was a typical
advanced infection of gas
gangrene-The cause of death was
infections due to gas
gangrene-,-An injection could
cause the infection if the needle
were dirty or germs in the
injection or germs on the skin
introduced into the body by
injection .••
Now to establish a charge of
murder or manslaughter it must be
proved not merely that the act of
the accused person couuld have
caused the death of the deceased,
but that it did. In this case the
doctor's evidence is merely to the
effect that the act of the
Appellant could have caused Joseph
Anyanwu's death. the possibility
that the gangrenous condition was
due to causes other than the
injection is not excluded.
Consequently the evidence is not
sufficient to prove the cause of
death or to support the
conviction.
TIle appeal is allowed, the
conviction and sentence are
quashed and it is directed
that a judgment and verdict of
acquittal be entered and that the
Appellant be discharged.
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