Christopher Mbewe and Ors v People (Appeal Nos 94 to 97/ 1987) [1989] ZMSC 132 (13 June 1989)

i I I I . , ' : i I I I ! . I I . ! . . ,• ' • I ,• r • . Ifl TH~ -SUPREME COURT Of .'ZAMBIA . . . Appeal :nos·. 94. to 97/1987 ,: I I .'• HOLDEN. AT NDOLA . . ... - ~ ,._ ' ' . . ' ' . ·•·. . ·· .{Criminal J .. urisdict1.on) . '•. .. ' . ' ' .• :• . ' .... ·. . .. : . ' . : . . 1.st Appellant C. HRISTOPER MB EWE -- WEIDO · JOSEPk MWAM~A · .'_ .. 2nd .·Appe·l !ant . . 3rd' )\ppeUant LUCKY° PHI_RI . SILWAMBA MUPETA. :· · .. . :,' ·: 4thl 'Appellant.• .. . . "'.'.~----... <.:·/~ <:·:_ ;_.·: ·: _> :.:,. :,,:-': .. . °tH~ I PEO~(~· .. .- ·; f. ·:. ·. ':Responde~t ·. ' ' . ,. ••._ 1 ,1 ' . r - • ' ' ' .. ' . · .. . · ... C. ORAM: ·. ·.··· ·. ·. ·: · .. .-:).i .. _·,~ .. :·,:/· ·.· : .: . •. Ngulube, o.c. J. I Gardner.~ AJ~S., ·arid . Sakal a.; J;s. '··.-:,: . . . . · ... : 13th June ... . ·19s9~ · ... · • •· . ·· · · . . . Appe~laQts in pe~son Mr. R. O. ·Okafpr; Senior State Advoc·ate, for th~ .st~te . . ··•\' :•.:::·:•;~· ,; , ' . . . . .', , ,.r: • •, • ', . ,1!, • . ·' •• ~ :! .-t,: l - ' • . .-. · · , ,'t" • I • • ._ ! •, - ' , ~, .. · . • t '" • ; I . J. U. 0 . G·. M J: N '.,t ;:;:·~:·.: '. :_ - -,'· · · . · i , t • • \ "- • I t I t ' •• ' •' I • : t; :, • '.. : , •• • • .. • • ... . ..... - I , • t . •1· •. ,\ ' ', .'. .• .. ' : II· f • . N_gulube~ D.~. J.~ deliv~red the j~dg!!tent: 01' t.he court'.·:-: .. . \ . . .. ·:, , . ·.· . ~~-~- ' . . :·• '·-··\ ~ ; _: ·.· : :; ;" .. • - .:,; -~- , -.. · .. · ·::: ..... . ~he appellants were cqnvi~ted on .'three counts' of aggravated robbery and 9.1 ven thr~~ concurrent '. sent!;!nces . of 1~ ,y~ars: each. - The pa~iicula~s w'ere that_·on JStii"December~ 1983 ~t ~uanshya ·and having. post~d tbe~selves: st·r;tegicai'·1y -in ·$ome ts : · i~olated .place. they attacked t~ree ~epara.ts -~d~plairi~nt~· ~ho•·· .were walking aion~. tn the night a·nd took the •property -me-~tfoned . · -The prosecution evidence· was :fur.ther: that, · .lat~r in ·the charges. that n~ght ~ the appell~nts. were see~ ··together'·and' h~d in their possession stolen· property when they arr1 v·ed· :at· the house of PWS •. These were the first, second a·nd. tnf rd ap·pel.lant·~-~ The learned : · trial judge considered that the evidence that the ·appellants w~re identified. coupled wfth the fact that the;' 'had .po·ssess.ion; when .. - t~ey wer~ 1 n eec h · other I s cOlllpany, was· su~f i ent to support the~ r · conviction. ' -~ ' ~ • • I . . j . • • • • • I . ' I I ;' ' / I ./the - . 2 I On their own behalf, the appellants have raised a number • • I of grounds of ap~eal-. · In particular, th~y ·have·crttised the evidence connecting them and identifying them ~s :/ perp~trators of the offences. They have all .critised the use made by the lea~ned trial judge of the fa~t ;that ·property w~s found with one or the other .of theni •. • , ' , • • : • t • \ : • I •. • ~ J• .~ • • • • •• • •~ .•: • . • • ~ • • We have considered ~11 -the grounds of app~a1 · and we. shall · ' , ' •''' •. • • ' o• . ' • ' • • . I ; I • ' f • • • • ~ . :• . . . . . , ' . . •. ' . . ~ . . . . .. . . .' ~ ·,:• · now consider the position of each, app~llant individually. With regard t _o the first aP.pell~ni, the le~rned t~i~1 judge ·,appear~ not . : to have ·accept_ed the evidence by the complainant PW1 ; that he . , had ide~tified him. · ·1~· .. fact, ··the. evidence of ·the· officer who · ·· condu~ted the p~-~ade~ _Pwi, m~de it quite ~le~r .th~t a~I the :•,;• :. complainants identified on:IY :the··second and fourth appellants. There was thus no· evidence of direct. ldentlficatlon •against the first appellant. There was evidence~ however, frpm ·a suspect witness, PW4 who was found· ln. possession of, a stolen jack~t, that the first ~ppellant was an :a-ss'oci~t~ _o~ th~ :second and t~ird appellants and \:'aS with them at ',a •bar .:where PW4 obtained the - Indeed, there ·w~s ·evidence agalnst,:th~ .first'- appellant jacket. that he wen~ with the sec~nd appellant,·and. the third appellant to the second appellant's unc1e•~ ·hoµse where the ·three of them proposed 'to spend the night. · ·it 1'.'as -.~ls~, -in _eviderice- that, . when · · the uncle, PWS~ became ' suspiciQUS of them ' and c~lled the . police. . the officer, PW6', did find the ·first appellant in company of the second and third appell.ants. at:·Pwsi's house. ·There was, however, .. · no evidence to indicate to the ·dourt 'which of the appellants had possession of which property at t~~t ;:5tage~· .. At any rate, none . to :· indicate ·which property-ns in .ih~:··act~~r possess.ion of ·the· first appellant. We nave noted•'th'at 'ttie·\1ppell~nts had ~~en . p~ssed . through a bar before they .reti~e~ fpr ·the night at ·pws 1s house and lt .cannot follow. a.s was suggasted._by Mr~ _--Okafor; that where an offence is conmltted by ·~ gro~p· of· per.so.ns ·and ·later on a similar group 1s found property, lt must be concluded t~at•:every member of that group must have part_icipated in the offence.· -· I~ferences cannot be drawn in that fashion, particularly ·in our system of criminal justice whi~h presumes persons to·. tie· lnnocent.-,untlii P.r9ven gu1.lty, ,even 1f they are caught red-h~nded. together .an~ ~as.possession of stolen . . : } • ' ••. • - -:•· ·, .••·, • .,~ " ' \ I ', ' ' •: . I , • • • ' I ~ t ,... '• • •• •I ' , ,• • • • .' . . , , ' •• • • , ' ' ' I • • • • • • . \ / . . I . : : o . , • • \ I . • 1 " ' • • • • • • I I I ' , . ' ' ' •• ,,1 · 3/ ••• • U Having I I .• I I -, ··. / I • F ., ' ,,' ' ' . . Having said that, it ts qulte .. de~r to us, that the first appellant. who offered no, ·explanation but instead invited the, . .. · court . to peruse Romans and·. One· Peter in the •. Bible, cannot be said to have been- $hewn· conctustveiy. to. have ·been· Qne of the robber,s.,- ·. · :. · · · · .•.. . . ' ' With r~gard to the ··secon~ app~l lant, he was ldent1 fled by all -the ,a;JTP,J·ainants,. · In addition, there w~s evidence from his uncle, Pws·, who saw Mm. arrive with his coUeagues, ·· in possession of. very recently'-stolen property. According to 'the uncle. the , se_cond ·appellant personally ·carried stolen north star shoes. He too, quoted from the P.salms and offered no defence. In his case~ howeve,r, the identification by 'the comp_lainants, coupled with the · odd c i rcumstante that.· stolen prQpe.rty ·wa·s found: in a. group where h.e was, at ' his .. 'own · ·uncie 1s: ho.use, .'~~~--a·dequate ·to· s~pport his conviction!· . . ·\'.' : . I ,1 . , ' • • •:. ,: . ',, .. ,, · . .. ' \. I I, • • \ The third .appellant ·ts ... ln the· same position as··the.first · · · ., .. t ♦ , •~ • , ' • I ·- , • I . ' • appellant ,and was not, 1dentifl~4: by th~· co~p1a'1n~nts~' What we .· have ~aid 111 r_elati~n t&· the ftrst appe_llaht ·applies . eQually t~ the third appe°llant~ .. . _ · · · · :.: . . ' ' ' ' I ·" • • ,':,\ ,' .. · . • , I • • • • • • • • ,• • ' ' 1 ~ t· • ~ ···t; , \ · ' ' : ' ' l • • • • - • · ·· • .- ·. .=: ' . . f.. . ' The fouttth ijpp.ellant :wa{.fdentified· by,.the' complainants, -'.:'• .:·.: PW2 and PW3~ · Indeed he ·wai•·heard .t() . CO~f~ss a~d . h~ was the one:·. : ·, .· · · who led· th~ poli~e · to the· othe~: -~c~us~~- persons ·and :icJ~ntifi.ed · ·. ·· .. :: . . them as his con°Feder.ates ~.·· on ·~uch ··eviden.ce:, it. 1s quite clea~ :;·:: ,·"• .. . that the ·appeals .of : the first .,and_ th_i_rd ·a_ppell~nt~' must: be a)lowed ~. '·.·. The appellant. Chr_1$tOpfW, Mbe\>{e,:· ~nd' the :-appe_ll~nt LO~ky.. Phiri_\ :-.: ; ... ' hava tt)eir.·.ap'peals ;; allowed: , -The convict1o~s ·are Q!JtlShed and ~he. .. _-.'. : sentences set astde~ . : . ·.· · .. : . : . . · ·. ; .. · •-•~ ,•:., , · · · .. ' . , .. • • h The ~P~·eals of the :s·econd and ,fourth ~ppellants ar.e · .·. dismissed both a$ to convtct1on ..and-sentence. . . .. . . . . . •, . . . . II • • t ' I o .. •' .· : . .. . . . • • • I M .. M. S. w. Ngulube '' Deputy Chief Justice. ---------------------- B. T •. Gardner Ag;: $uprme C~urt Judge_ · __ · . ' ' ·: .· 4/ •••• .. ' ' I I I I ... . ---- ___ .. __ _ E ---L-~S;k;i~ E •• E· coURT JUDG . SUPREM · , • r ..... . · . I '. ., • I I : .... .. ·- ' ·•' ' ( l, .• ... ·.--·- ··'. . . . • • r . I • • I \ ~. ; . • 1 , . , l •, . ' ' ' '• ' ., .. . .. I • , • ,;J' ,, !· •. " .. ' ... ·. • . ... 4 •