Wakilii

Rex v Kihura (Criminal Appeal No.64 of. 1941)

East African Court of Appeal · [1941] EACA 48 · 1941 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeal from conviction for murder by the High Court of Uganda
Decision
Conviction for murder upheld; appeal dismissed

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

An accused person does not retract a freely and voluntarily made confession merely by making an unsworn statement at trial that departs from the earlier confession without expressly referring to or retracting it. Corroboration is not essential in law to justify a conviction based on such a confession. On the facts, there was sufficient corroboration in the medical evidence and witness testimony. The appellant's unsworn statement could not support self-defence as he was armed with both knife and stick against an unarmed man.

Outcome

Conviction for murder upheld; appeal dismissed

Facts

The appellant was convicted of murder by the High Court of Uganda. He had made two statements to police, described by the trial judge as freely and voluntarily made, in which he confessed to stabbing the deceased. At trial, the appellant made an unsworn statement claiming he acted in self-defence: the deceased wanted to beat him, picked up a knife, they struggled for it, the appellant obtained the knife first, and when the deceased came nearer the appellant stabbed him in the thigh to escape. The trial judge treated this unsworn statement as a retraction of the earlier confessions and directed the assessors that corroboration was necessary. The judge found corroboration in medical evidence and witness testimony, including evidence from Samusoni that the knife did not belong to the deceased.

Issues

  1. Whether an unsworn statement at trial that departs from earlier confessions constitutes a retraction requiring corroboration.
  2. Whether there was sufficient corroboration of the appellant's confession.
  3. Whether the appellant acted in self-defence when he stabbed the deceased.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.

Rules and key headnotes

Evidence — Confessions — Retraction — Unsworn Statement at Trial
An accused person cannot be said to have retracted a confession freely and voluntarily made merely by making an unsworn statement at trial without referring in any way to the earlier statement confessing guilt.
Evidence — Confessions — Corroboration — When Required
Corroboration of a confession is not essential in law to justify a conviction where the accused has not properly retracted the confession, and a direction that corroboration was necessary in such circumstances is wrong.
Evidence — Confessions — Retracted Confessions — Test for Reliance
It is unsafe for a court to rely on and act on a confession which has been retracted unless after consideration of the whole evidence the court can come to the unhesitating conclusion that the confession is true, usually requiring corroboration in material particulars by credible independent evidence, or unless the character of the confession and circumstances under which it was taken indicate its truth.
Criminal Law — Murder — Malice Aforethought — Knowledge of Probable Consequences
Where an accused person knows that his act would probably cause grievous harm to the deceased, such knowledge constitutes murderous malice under section 196(b) of the Penal Code, regardless of whether the accused actually intended such harm.
Criminal Law — Self-Defence — Armed Accused Against Unarmed Victim
Self-defence cannot be established where an accused person, having obtained possession of a knife and being armed with both knife and stick, stabs an unarmed person, as any danger to the accused vanished once he became possessed of the weapon.

Legislation cited (1)

  • Penal Code s.196(b)

Cases cited (2)

  • Rex v Sinoya and Another (6 E.A.C.A. 155)
  • Rex v Keisheiineza w/o Tindikawa (7 E.A.C.A. 67)

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Rex v Kihura (Criminal Appeal No.64 of. 1941) [1941] EACA 48 (1 January 1941)
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.