Odongo Justine v Uganda [2001] UGSC 9

Supreme Court · 2001 Appeal Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download

Jurisdiction

Uganda

Case Type

Second criminal appeal to the Supreme Court from the Court of Appeal's dismissal of an appeal against High Court convictions for murder and attempted murder

Decision

Appeal dismissed; convictions and sentences (including the death sentence) confirmed.

The full judgment

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AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions — always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The Supreme Court dismissed a second appeal against murder and attempted murder convictions. It held that a first appellate court must re-evaluate the evidence as a whole, and that a defence of alibi must be weighed against, not simply displaced by, identification evidence; placing an accused at the scene requires evaluation of the whole evidence, not the prosecution case in isolation. Re-evaluating the evidence itself (this being one of the clearest of cases), the Court found identification by four eye-witnesses who knew the appellant, in daylight, was reliable and the alibi false. The absence of police evidence of arrest was not fatal where other evidence proved guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Facts

On 16 October 1995 at Abalokoti market, Minakulu in Apac District, two deceased persons, Apwony Okello and Engur Charles, together with Okaka Peter were drinking malwa with others. At about 3:00 pm the appellant arrived with a gun, first fired in the air, then knelt and fired at the drinking group. Apwony Okello died on the spot, Engur Charles died while being taken to hospital, and Okaka Peter (PW3) suffered fractures of both legs and survived. Four eye-witnesses, who knew the appellant as a villagemate and relative, identified him; PW2 (wife of the appellant's paternal uncle) had pleaded with him to stop shooting, and PW4 (his paternal uncle) had met and spoken with him in the village earlier that day. The appellant raised an alibi, claiming he was on operation at Pajule in Kitgum, and alleged a land grudge with PW4. The trial court rejected the alibi and convicted him on all counts.

Issues

Whether the Court of Appeal failed in its duty to re-evaluate the evidence as a whole before upholding the convictions.
Whether the appellant's defence of alibi was properly negatived by the prosecution evidence.
Whether the appellant was correctly identified as the assailant.
Whether the absence of police evidence of the report, investigation and arrest was fatal to the prosecution case.

Orders

Appeal dismissed.

Key headnotes

Criminal Law & Procedure — Appeals — Duty of first appellate court to re-evaluate evidence

On a first appeal from a conviction by a judge, the appellant is entitled to the appellate court's own consideration of the whole evidence; the first appellate court must rehear and reconsider the material evidence and reach its own decision, and failure to re-evaluate the evidence as a whole constitutes an error of law.

Criminal Law & Procedure — Second appeal — When the Supreme Court will re-evaluate evidence

Except in the clearest of cases, a second appellate court is not required to re-evaluate the evidence as a first appellate court does; but where the first appellate court has failed to evaluate the evidence as a whole, the case becomes one of the clearest of cases making it incumbent on the second appellate court to re-evaluate the evidence.

Evidence — Defence of alibi — Burden and approach

The burden is on the prosecution to disprove an alibi; an alibi cannot be rejected merely because the prosecution evidence placed the accused at the scene. Where the accused both denies presence and adduces evidence of being elsewhere, the court must evaluate both versions judicially and give reasons for accepting one rather than the other.

Evidence — Identification — Caution against mistaken identity

In cases turning on identification, the court must satisfy itself whether the conditions of identification were difficult, warn itself of the possibility of mistaken identity, and evaluate the evidence as a whole, weighing factors favouring correct identification against those rendering it difficult, before convicting or upholding a conviction.

Evidence — Weighing evidence — No piece of evidence in isolation

It is fundamentally wrong to evaluate the prosecution case in isolation and then ask whether the defence rebuts it; no single piece of evidence should be weighed except in relation to all the rest of the evidence.

Criminal Law & Procedure — Prosecution evidence — Absence of police evidence of arrest

While evidence of a police investigating officer and of the arrest of the accused should be given where necessary, its absence is not as a rule fatal where other available evidence proves the prosecution case to the required standard; whether such police evidence is essential depends on the circumstances of each case.

Legislation cited (3)

Penal Code Act s.183
Penal Code Act s.197
Trial on Indictments Decree s.64

Cases cited (10)

Pandya v R (1957) EA 336
Ruwala v R (1957) EA 570
Okeno v Republic (1972) EA 32
Kifamunte Henry v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 10 of 1997)
Bogere Moses & Another v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 1 of 1997)
Suleiman Katusabe v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 7 of 1991)
Abudalla Nabulele & Another v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 9 of 1978)
Moses Kasana v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 12 of 1981)
Rwaneka v Uganda (1967) 768 at page 771
Alfred Bumbo & Others v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 28 of 1994)

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