Too Okema Moses v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 7 of 1999)

Court of Appeal · [1999] UGCA 13 · 1999 Conviction Quashed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download

Jurisdiction

Uganda

Case Type

Criminal appeal from High Court conviction for murder and death sentence

Decision

Murder conviction and death sentence set aside; manslaughter conviction substituted with 10 years' imprisonment

The full judgment

Read the complete, verbatim text of this judgment.

Cited — treatment unverified cited in 1 (treatment unverified) Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — not an assertion that this case is good law.

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Holding

The Court of Appeal held that the trial judge misdirected himself by relying on section 13(2) instead of section 13(4) of the Penal Code Act when considering the defence of intoxication. Given the evidence that the appellant was intoxicated when he stabbed the deceased, malice aforethought had not been proved. The court allowed the appeal, quashed the murder conviction and death sentence, substituted a conviction for manslaughter under section 182, and sentenced the appellant to 10 years' imprisonment from the date of conviction, taking into account time spent on remand.

Facts

On 7 June 1996 the appellant went to the home of the deceased, Yose Lunyera, where people who had helped dig the deceased's garden had gathered to drink local brew ("kwete"). The appellant, who had not dug but was permitted to drink, consumed one calabash and poured out two others. When the deceased questioned him and asked him to leave because he was drunk, the appellant pulled out a pocketknife and pierced the central house pole. The deceased grabbed him to lead him out, and during the ensuing struggle the appellant stabbed the deceased twice, in the stomach and right thigh. The deceased was taken to Kitgum hospital and died five days later. The appellant was arrested on 11 June 1996 and charged. At trial he raised an alibi which was rejected. On appeal he abandoned the alibi and admitted killing the deceased while intoxicated. Evidence on record showed he was already drunk before arriving.

Issues

Whether the defence of intoxication negated malice aforethought necessary for murder.
Whether the trial judge correctly applied the law on intoxication under the Penal Code Act.

Orders

Appeal allowed.
Conviction for murder quashed and sentence of death set aside.
Conviction for manslaughter substituted under section 182 of the Penal Code Act.
Appellant sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment effective from the date of conviction.

Key headnotes

Homicide — Defence of Intoxication — Effect on Malice Aforethought

Where there is evidence that an accused was intoxicated at the time of a killing, that intoxication may negate the malice aforethought required for murder, reducing the offence to manslaughter.

Defence of Intoxication — Application of Penal Code Act s.13(4)

A trial court considering the defence of intoxication on a murder charge must apply section 13(4) of the Penal Code Act, which deals with whether the accused formed the requisite intent, rather than section 13(2); misapplication amounts to a misdirection.

Legislation cited (3)

Penal Code Act s.13(2)
Penal Code Act s.13(4)
Penal Code Act s.182

Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.