Benard Changwe and Anor v People (Appeal Nos. 49 & 50 OF 1989) [1989] ZMSC 137 (8 August 1989)

:,_.,:-- . , . . , . . \.)(.. .. / ~. : ·. ~ ·~ IN° . THE . SUPREME. ~OURT _OF· ZNIJIA ::: :,•~: .. 1App~atiNo~-~·,.49 & 50 .0F. -1989···;. . : . HOLDEN . AT 'KABWE. (Cri~inal~J0riJdictlon) ; ;'! ';· ~-: \. . . .,,:.. \ : . .. :", .. ' ,: .:f .i / I .. ;:,'i . :··· : ·~'.i,l'.·! 8.l'U,'; . . .. , . , . ' . ' . · . . . . . ..,~·. , ._ «. i.!'l:;~S~S _}:r~i'i: ·N.gul~be. D. C. J • • : 'delivered th~ •.judgmedt·.joir"r:tti; ·court~1-nt r ;. J '.~bla_.a1i;;; :. · ir.1::~1t~s ls~&i1t anJ _'t'. Oi. _(·ad{ctoty .. ,,: • .1 · '·" · ., · The appellants , were tried 1and convi_cte~ .on la, charge ,. of1Aggr.ijvated ·· Robbery and they rece 1 ved ·-the mand~tQry . senteoae . of~~15, ,yea('s c:I _,·H.-L.i•.~ The ·particulars were that the ,·appellants. (and'. other.c~per:so~$ :.~~~1 ~~j··: · · '•25th ;August/ 1986' at Kabwe · in the ~Ka~we,-distrtct~ijointly,1-an_d·:._whUstt · : acting together::stole a Mercedes !true~'; t.he;_prOperty of Palamed~stit;~y .. Transport Company and tho.t. at. the: time '.they: ,used or ,'-threatened j.tQ ~se . ·_ violence' to : the ;watchm~n ~who:·,w~re.~PW1 ·.:and,· P;WS .. :ea!-;.,n' 1:;,_,;;i:1:,f'nccJ: trl ?j 1 · . . ;~ \.:,:_, :;,1 \•iC:dn :!:~'~ rtlb <'. In ~,1t..1inn wh.ich P. W5 sain unie~~· 11( : :): '. i •i:;;·· 1't!': !,! ·: i ·,;;:Jhe pros~~utiqi:i,:~as~ ~-~tap;l~~~!tQ~!!~~~en~~~,v~ll~~~~~t ~?rJDe , dateJll question, at ,Kap~-r.1 MPP.~~it,_ ~h~ ·t~?dW~F~~~~n ~/~re:;~~ .... ~Ht~ t;'!c:t . ,; guarding. vehicles at t~e1 Pf~mi.$.~~,. P,f(J ~~~-~;t~mpJ,~l~fi~~h~~ , }.~o, p_er~fR~s ·.· approached them: 1 ~ .t~~; n,1gnt. T~t.r~.~2~ P~f~OP.tiPPi~r!i~~-aJr CJP::, ~ftJ83~~? i and that-they had, c_om~, tR~Yt3~t-~_g_a~~)ii;\{ 8_PPfr lBf pi~i),;f' \prr.e~<r~.c! wt,: . · · .. · .. :, of tMeves. to. -:the are~ •. ,• R~:•·Af~~a__\ f:%>~tn.~1-ti~~s~,1 t.~~fS?,S~ ~~::e~~ ti?t ~ · . ,_,.tour the prell).ises wi'tO t~~-~,~ 11~~Je.?1tli£I}>"f!iftt~e.~s.: i,l ~~ 1~f:tn(e,~~~fvff~i.d (,•·:that .. they,.spo~e to lt~.e~,,- P,~m~ctn~. JJffciP\:,!~~J~ J:r~tr;.tr E\1~.r1~}~f.•;n ~fJ,f~' , .. a. while, _pne of th~ w(t~~~.ses was ·taken. away t'o ~ome secluded. spot- . where they found two conf.lderate.s of ~he bogus·- CID. he. was -held up at what 1appeared 'to be 'gUn', 1:foint -¼!')d't~_as'. m~d~ ,.~e>-.,lie· on· the iground~icat:i : ~1 . ' . ' . ;· A short while later; the-'firs·t!:ap·p'ellant:Lal~egedlyl:went' and •.fetch~d the· other watchman and he ·to~f-was 'held up ·and ·~ade ,1;·0·•: l ie··.down~:' ·?The truck. was starte.d 'up; the··four :robbers·,:and. ,the ·two .wat~hmen·:started 'off after the watchmen· had· been bundled• into: the. cab. ffh~ :.truck ih'.aS. •:~ ''.driven towards Kabwe ·and ·somewhere ·near, Mulungushi',\the watchmen . .-w~re . . . . ' , . . /;l~~~- • . · . ·J2 :to~d·,to' .run .. ~ff 1ot.o th~--b~s~:~-:·rhey·';~ve~tt~.11/ w~'ikecf;b~~k°.to', K&4tfr.i . Mposhi: :and .made ,a report. The .truck ··was ~covered :in. 'the ·s~renj~--~are.a : after a few days.~'· ::.: ,0 . Y: :i.:;· .·. > ; r " -"° :, ,!;'":;;,•::.' ,.; , : -·. 0:.-,_,;,:; .:.;~'. 1:·:. . : t -:·,: . . , . J: . , . , . .. ,: . t. :, •.. 1 . , . ::;:. ',;;,;.,: :-.· l;·lc.r·,.,ifn -~ ·r..asult t hJt. th!: ,·. . The learned itr1:al. Ju~g~. J o_l!nd:J~~~~ . .the. wit.n~sses) had~ an. ample opportunity to observe the app~u ,n_tt ~(l~.) rcc9r.di ng ly ·he. con~ 1,cted: them. • • . I • • • • • • ' ' : . : "T- • • • .., , ! ' ' .,, ' J • .. • . _ . ! , . • ,. • • • . . • , , , \ ( ' "" • • .., .. : · • • • • • .· . f (' ·,· ..• • ' I ,. ' • ' ... : .. ~ ' •: , . . ir'-• , • .. ~. 1· • 1 ' ; .: '. .., · ,,I'{: ) '•I" ...... .• • -1- .. ..... ,.~ • •' J. ,• ''.-:ttJ • ,~:,:. • • ! . . . 1f'l\,- ..... .! • • : 1,., . 11•1.t,41°t !r;''I, •1' 1 C' T.· : ~);I \-;, I\!€? , h!J r·ri,l.= • , 11; ,••-· · .,~~·t• .. ·_ · _.• . • • .. i: :.-,-.·. ;rN!~-· r:1is.h·::.:; P~i;: , ·~:."i-0 ·.srli(l • On their o~~- ~eha~ f tr~~ ,a_Pp~U~.~t;s; .. ~~vr,/iJl~9.nt? P,Y1~o~r~ Of 1 _Qf~U-~QS, In the grounds submi ttad' .with the notice .of appeal. •. the · : of appeal. ,·,: •'<\.•·._• :·• ; , 1·'.)11 :'../1 !'ii · , . first appellant complaii:Jed that the evi'dence· of the . six prosecuti.on_· · witnesses was not ·corr~bor~ted. He also.complained that none .of. the.: . • •'h f ,,H'.:.. - as~ailants was i~~nti_fi~d .at -~, ~~r~~~~ !~:er~~cg~~cJP. P.~lf~~t. fH,~ . identical groqnds. AT' the 'hearing of the .appe4l ·they have .filed • additional grounds of appeal.: The· principa_l gr·ound · of. appeal conc~rns their -identificatlon by .the wa~clu~en . Pws•t1i·and· 5.-~ The· f'irst ·appeliant ,.• l I"): • has argued that in fact .;the evidence of; id~ntity was_"not 1r~l1able: ~n(f that in any event these witnesses were 1ilconsistent "and ·contradict.ory·. · The s~cond appel laqt · makes a ·-s1rnil~r'·¢o.mpia-int~. ' In 1 J'.'e~aUon':to·~p~~ L ·,.'. '.:. . both , appellants -point put th~t·ithis-.1was1 a •witness ' wfio had '111:!d tci toe court,: He: was a witness who "said. th~ i·appet'.l.ant's. tied 'the : poHce? and'\.\',, . himself ·to the ·recovery 'of th.e ;tra,Uer•·:1n.<tt1e'.;bu~i.')r we' muif<stat"e ·t~t' .. this juncture .that,:t~e complaint ' l'lJ' th~tl.-resp·e~.t-:is'.~eH · roun~ed.;·'th,at· is,, PW5 did · ue-. in his·· evtdence)S Howevej,~(}t .ll11i·'was'ia1 factol,wtiY~h 'th~.1\ l learned trial' judge. had 'recognhed. '.:):for\hat )'eas~n'Jth;' ·1ea1 rnid':tri~(111e Judge held that he would not · rely tm· ·anything:·whlch' PW5 satd ··unles~· n ·'. ·• was corroborated.· This. in our· ·opi:nJon~ was .a :cotrect approach° since obviously 'the ·fact' that the · wi"tness -h~d · toid· J'ies~in.· the ·.same ~ay-that · an accused· person may tell lies-d~~:s: n.ot ~ar(that' th~ •.whole of hls. . . evidence is thereby rendered us.eless. -th·e · remainder of his · evidence is entitled to consideration but : th~~ co,u'r.t;. Wi 1 i ~ 9bviousi; :·decide ~h~t weight to attach to t,he ~vid~~ic;~ ~~fi'Jf.~~-iif~i!~~-•. ·and · if, as 1~ ·this case, the bal.ance.--of the evldence ·'i's. ·duly-:s.upported by -other cred-ible • evidence, such portions· of the . evldence -~anrio·t' ·all .' be discounted• as · . . submitted by the appellants. :. , .. · .. ·'.;"<•-'.,;, _.'./,i:r.~ ... >· _.,,-·::i,r : .. · .. : .. ·.-._'~:· ·· · r,•-.1JI ,f1>,1': • • ,. , , f ' • ,. ~ . "•. .. - ~·, ,. ·➔ \ J • ,.• • .._ I • • . •. . • \I; ;, . • • • ), • ••, j ... . · .. . ·. " . . • • : : ._ " '\ ~ ' ... • • ... • • • • • . . • - • • ( ' ' • • • • • • - - t : , . · ' ' ' ' ' ' - , •,. • • di, ........ • • . ♦ 'f, ♦• &. 0- .. ~ •• • y k, _,, • • • • • :•' f : • • r t \ The. appel.iants ,have ~soJiafuen't'e&ft _h~ .. ·~~s~ce .of an· parade. While generally spflakin~i: i.:{:LLt~ti~'.~th~t · ld~nt.1 ficauo!'I of· · persons· .not known to the witnesses · ~hi~h-h4s .. not··be~n . pr~ceded ·by a - .. ·. . par~cte will rare·ly carry any _ weight. noneth¢l.ess we acc;ept · atso that . . · there are cases . wh_en witnesse~_-.d~ ~Sf?,\:,i~~s~c(p~r-~ons.· in puQ.liC place$ ·. and identify them. The ques~i on in. ~ucn case.s ·· is. whetl)er · the ~1 tness · , . /JJ~. •· . ';~\:;~•:J.:. -~.:;:.:'.•~:.--~•· ';:" •.'•fl,:_ ;".f- . ' ' identi.fic~tion. · • I . . • i , I I :, J3 I •• • I • • I • I \ : ,• 1• , I - t • ' ' ' ' ' ' , ' I I I I I I I I I , • • • • • • • • l • I 1 ' ' • I • • 1 1 ...... ,,11,_ ,.., ,••4 • ! • -~ ••-. had, at ·the_ time, ,of the .offence•~ ample .aQ4 ·,9.o~d: oppor.~unity t9 ,IIJ~!<~ , , . rel.table observadons:.. ,In this 'case 'the two ;watchmen were- with the· .' ,, ' appella'nts for -at lea~t•·,thirty minutes. · There were lights at the yard; ' ·: ,.• the robbery .did not cpme· until ' much .later with a 'result that the , witnes~es ev~n ~.hatte~ -~1th ~h~~ap.peJ"i~~~:.··_'_' in addition .. t~,,t]1a1°,,lai,t · evidence, with ·regard' to the I 1.st ~PPiU~n,~~·: ~hete ,was ,}ls~·:.t"ti.i;;,hd~nce· . '. of a c~mstable who wa~ <iln'. patrol. ~fi .. th~· area. T~is wa.s PW2 1 who saip' that, he ' saw. the f:irst ·appella~t;~em~~~e-~fro~ ' ine t,rqck •~_nf t_l;)e.:·fi.r,st ". · . aP,pe l l ant personal iy 'st~;t~9 · a icoovers.,a\ton. wJ;tl! the ·con.~tahi~:-~od· .. ,.; . . ,· , g~ve him some .t,aH ·'story, ~onc~rning>-th:t'~ve~~~·a1 ~ su~gested·'ihe po. Uce ·-; ..: .'• officer:. Investigate ,,n._.th~. norther~ dtrecdcin wlHie h~ 'and. his co~r~de r~tes · drove • in · the . s,o,uthern ~~1-rect'i'~n·~, AS· -~~n:··be .. ·seen, .this: casi . . depe.nded on I 'the re u a~.1 lit;.: .9f ~ th~·~ 1 de~ti f 1.ca t.t'on~·~~. -· r ..'.w:..-.~~ ___...:_., • .:-:;:, l .. ;. 1' • • • ~· •.•,) ·(t'f) c1~{• i: N•.r r ~. •'.. .w~ are; of cour~e; ,il\'fare-· th~·t t~e a'pp~ 11 an~s ra~ se,d. · the, defence •. . · I _ , , , · •!• ·,· • ""'!'" ~ ... ---: , :, 1, , 1 " •• 1 • , , . , ' • , , ,1 , , , . '-' •· •, • • ,. • • + • • t I , t t , l , , • I I I I I I I ', t • , • I I • - , , , ' I , • t , ,_,_,.,..~- - •• -:,o• \- ,:.....l..l J........:..-,.,,:-• - , - • - ',- - r--- • , f •,, 1, I ,•'lo • I • • - ..... - .. .. .-, .. -..1.. - • , ',. •. , of alibi out wtilch 'tae· le~rned trial Judge. dismi,ss~d, It .ls, trite. ; I • · that' strong e.v.id,en~e. ,9f iden~ificat1~:n .do~S · displ.,ace_vanY, ·~resumption . , . 0isprove any . aq~t.1.o a . ~a~~- · such. ~s· ,this, ; where ,.l~rie:· i~ye~ti_g.~i•r.s .-· .. . and d -'tbl ~ ,, •· •• ~- ~ ,· ,.,,,-tr,,'1._-.,., r~1· t',~~- ...... 1. ,r.r • . , . ·, ' ' . , 1 ' ' I J t O o I t .. , . . . . appeaJ aga.1. ns_; the . 11),m;f a:to;y.'.. s,ecite~~~ •''<.~-<~, ± ~(>:.: 1 • • ) _n_ttiis_ pa-r~i·c~la.r ·cJ1$~_. _ .. a~ .. :~1~ea~y _'ob'ser:v.eq,_.,.~1].~r:.e .:~.as .v.~~r, , • ,. · ' may have beeri .. i_n; Qe~Eµ ic·ti•on.: Qf :. dut y,. J r;a ,f~.1-~.1,n_g.:.•tq,,inv,e~tig~te :th,ei: ~. · aHbis1 s~rong -evide~ce of id~n-~if,1,c.at~cm )'l~ic~ ~~s. d~l( c~rro~o,r;ated ~nd ~th~ question · of·. t.he watchmen mistaken~y' .ld_en~ifying, ,t~e ,apP,ellants .dJ<1 not' ar.ise! . In. th.e premis.e.s·.,t~er.~ ·was ~o 1m1.~4lr~~tiort a~q ~tb,e .l~arn,ed:,tr:lal · · Judge did 11ot. m~ke · a.ny::· m1st~ke• 'Jn convict~ng t~ese two appellari_ts. ·, The · appeals against conviction are ,di.smissed. · There .can, of course. be;_no· ·, · ~ ! : ... 1,;' r.' /:1 ~ ,'." .~ h:s\: ?:1: -~•t· ·.'' . i r: 01:>~1 ! · { r,~1. ~ t ;~,cl21 r L MRo'.,h~ ~ .'. t~~·.: t~ . · ~.trcni.-d~ ~~tr<! ~~--~uty-·:. / . · ·.\. t 1 '! :1•~:il1.':r\'i ~t ri.~ . Prer11£.5,u;•-o.f:' t~ if' :·•Xl;):10YG11r' When t~o ·pqr~on~· ::·· :. . '.l,; l~-: ·:~1-,.;:,•1, ·; , ;· ·i0~~ .. 11.r~;~t~.'/ T~:f~.fer:1.~~~·).o~!d:·~s:·~!iJ .of-r,i,_c~r~ . . :•. . ~;· l. ·.1 ~ .. , .•. ,v .---n .. ~;,, .\,; .. t.t. . ~ . ,..r,.,., .. , ... ,t!. ~ u ....... , . : ·, ... 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