Wakilii

Udinde and Another v Reginam (Criminal Appeals Nos. 189 and 190 of 1955)

East African Court of Appeal · [1955] EACA 353 · 1955 Appeal Partly Allowed; Second Appellant Acquitted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeals from conviction for murder in the High Court of Tanganyika
Decision
First appellant's murder conviction reduced to manslaughter with five years' imprisonment; second appellant acquitted and discharged

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

A repudiated confession may require corroboration in circumstances where the witness giving evidence of the confession is shown to have lied. Medical evidence showing injuries consistent with weapons mentioned does not necessarily corroborate a confession where alternative explanations exist. Without corroboration of a suspect confession, a conviction cannot stand where no other evidence connects the accused to the crime.

Outcome

First appellant's murder conviction reduced to manslaughter with five years' imprisonment; second appellant acquitted and discharged

Facts

The two appellants were convicted of murdering Athumani s/o Mwamanga. The prosecution case rested almost entirely on evidence from Kaulande, who testified that Yohannis confessed to him that he and Martin waylaid the deceased, with Martin striking him with a club and Yohannis with a billhook. Kaulande claimed Martin admitted being present. During cross-examination, it emerged that Kaulande had lied about not being related to the deceased; another witness testified they shared a common grandmother. There was a suggestion that the appellants, who were brothers, had been told to leave their village because their father was a witch-doctor, and that Kaulande may have had motive to incriminate them. Yohannis admitted killing the deceased but said it occurred after an all-day drinking party when both were very drunk, and that the deceased had struck him first with a billhook, prompting him to retaliate. Three weapons were produced: a spear, billhook, and club, all belonging to Yohannis. Medical evidence showed three injuries on the deceased consistent with these weapons, though the injuries could potentially all have been caused by the billhook alone.

Issues

  1. Whether a repudiated confession requires corroboration when given by a witness shown to have lied during evidence.
  2. Whether the medical evidence corroborated the alleged confession.
  3. Whether there was sufficient evidence to connect the second appellant with the offence.

Orders

  • Appeal of first appellant (Yohannis) allowed in part.
  • Conviction and sentence for murder set aside.
  • Conviction for manslaughter substituted.
  • First appellant sentenced to five years' imprisonment.
  • Appeal of second appellant (Martin) allowed.
  • Conviction of second appellant quashed and sentence set aside.
  • Second appellant ordered to be set at liberty.

Rules and key headnotes

Evidence — Confessions — Repudiated Confessions — Corroboration Requirements
Although a repudiated confession as distinct from a retracted confession does not in normal circumstances require corroboration, there may be circumstances in which a court should require corroboration before evidence of a repudiated confession is accepted as reliable, particularly where the alleged confession is given in evidence by a person who is shown to have lied in the course of his evidence.
Evidence — Confessions — Corroboration — Medical Evidence
Medical evidence showing that injuries are consistent with weapons mentioned in an alleged confession does not necessarily provide sufficient corroboration where alternative explanations for the injuries exist and have not been excluded by the trial court.
Criminal Procedure — Trial Practice — Recording of Counsel Addresses
Where counsel address the court, a note of the submissions, particularly those of law, should be recorded by the trial judge, and if no addresses are made, this fact should be noted on the record.

Cases cited (1)

  • R v Lalasia (3 E.A.C.A. 106)

Full judgment

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

Udinde and Another v Reginam (Criminal Appeals Nos. 189 and 190 of 1955) [1955] EACA 353 (1 January 1955)
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.