Moholisa v R (CRI/A 17 of 87) [1989] LSCA 30 (17 March 1989)

C R I / A / 1 7 / 87 IN THE HIGH C O U RT OF L E S O T HO In the m a t t er b e t w e e n: PHIRI M O H O L I SA v REX B e f o re the H o n o u r a b le the C h i ef J u s t i ce M r. J u s t i ce B . P. C u l l i n an on the 17th day of M a r c h, 1 9 8 9. For the C r o wn : M r. G . S. M d h l u l i, D i r e c t or of Public P r o s e c u t i o ns For the A p p e l l a n t: M r. M. M p h u t l a ne J U D G M E NT C a s es r e f e r r ed t o: (1) R v Turnbull ( 1 9 7 6 )3 All E. R. 549 The a p p e l l a nt was c o n v i c t ed by the R e s i d e nt M a g i s t r a te at Butha B u t he of r o b b e ry and was s e n t e n c ed to four y e a r s' i m p r i s o n m e n t. E v i d e n ce was given by a p o l i ce o f f i c e r, the second p r o s e c u t i on w i t n e s s, acting as an armed guard to /... - 2- a v e h i c le in w h i ch m o n e y, b e l o n g i ng to a c o n c e rn c a l l ed " M e t r o" w as b e i ng t a k en to a b a n k, t h at s h o r t ly b e f o re t he r o b b e ry he o b s e r v ed t he a p p e l l a n t, w h om he k n ew by s i g h t, n e ar t he v e h i c le w h i ch he g u a r d e d. He o b s e r v ed t h at t he a p p e l l a nt w as w e a r i ng a b a l a c l a va h e l m et w h i ch w as n ot p u l l ed d o wn o v er t he f a c e. S h o r t ly t h e r e a f t e r, as he s at i n to t he r e ar of t he v e h i c l e, a p e r s on w e a r i ng a b a l a c l a va h e l m et p u l l ed o v er h is f a ce and w e a r i ng sun g l a s s e s, a r m ed w i th a r e v o l v e r, s t o od at t he d r i v e r 's d o or of t he v e h i c l e, d e m a n d i ng t he k e ys of t he v e h i c le f r om t he d r i v er t h e r e o f, t h at i s, t he M a n a g er of M e t r o. T he l a t t er h a n d ed o v er t he k e y s. T he p o l i ce o f f i c er w as m e a n w h i le a t t a c k ed by a n o t h er m a n, w ho w as n ot m a s k ed and w ho a f t er a s t r u g g le d i s p o s s e s s ed h im of h is r i f l e. T he p o l i ce o f f i c er e s c a p e d. S ix d a ys l a t er a n o t h er p o l i ce o f f i c er f o u nd a b u n ch of k e ys in a van p a r k ed at t he h o me of t he a p p e l l a n t 's p a r e n t s. T he p o l i ce o f f i c er t e s t i f i ed t h at he " f o u nd t h em to be s i m i l ar to t he k e ys a l l e g e d ly t a k en at M e t ro ...", and s u b s e q u e n t ly t e s t i f i ed t h at " T h e se a re t he k e ys b e f o re C o u r t ". T he w i t n e ss t h en p r o d u c ed t he k e ys in e v i d e n c e, s a y i ng t h at t h ey h ad b e en /... - 3- in p o l i ce c u s t o d y, t h at 1s f or o v er six m o n t h s. T he M a n a g er of M e t ro w h en g i v i ng e v i d e n ce had t e s t i f i ed t h at t he k e ys t a k en f r om h im " a re t he o n es b e f o re C o u r t ". T he l e a r n ed t r i al M a g i s t r a te o b s e r v ed " t he c a u t i o n a ry r u l es a p p l i c a b le to q u e s t i o ns of i d e n t i t y ". He o b s e r v ed t h a t, " P . W .2 is t he o n ly w i t n e ss w ho c l a i ms he i d e n t i f i ed ( t he a p p e l l a n t) as o ne of r o b b e r s ". T h at m u st be a m i s d i r e c t i o n. T he w i t n e ss b ut t e s t i f i ed t h at he had o b s e r v ed t he a p p e l l a nt at t he s c e ne i m m e d i a t e ly b e f o re t he r o b b e ry w e a r i ng a b a l a c l a va h e l m e t. He t e s t i f i ed t h at he d id n ot r e c o g n i ze t he a s s a i l a nt w i th t he r e v o l v er at t he d r i v e r 's d o o r, n or i n d e ed c o u ld he i d e n t i fy t he n o n - m a s k ed a s s a i l a nt w ho d i s p o s s e s s ed him of h is r i f l e. T he l e a r n ed t r i al M a g i s t r a te o b s e r v ed t h at he " d id n ot f i nd it n e c e s s a ry to t e st t he e v i d e n ce e x t e n s i v e ly as r e q u i r ed by l a w, t he r e a s on b e i ng t h at - 4- the w i t n e ss said he k n ew (the a p p e l l a n t) by s i g h t ". But as t he C o u rt of A p p e al in E n g l a nd o b s e r v ed in R v . - T u r n b u l l ( 1) (per L o rd W i d g e ry C . J . ) at p . 5 5 2: " R e c o g n i t i on m ay be m o re r e l i a b le t h an i d e n t i f i c a t i on of a s t r a n g e r; but e v en w h en t he w i t n e ss is p u r p o r t i ng to r e c o g n i ze s o m e o ne w h om he k n o w s, the j u ry s h o u ld be r e m i n d ed that m i s t a k es in r e c o g n i t i on of c l o se r e l a t i v es and f r i e n ds are s o m e t i m es m a d e ." T h o se d i c ta a p p ly a /fortiori to t he p u r p o r t ed r e c o g n i t i on of a p e r s on k n o wn by s i g ht o n l y. Q u i te c l e a r ly t he e v i d e n ce of i d e n t i f i c a t i on w as of the " f l e e t i ng e n c o u n t e r" v a r i e t y, and w as of p o or q u a l i t y. An i d e n t i f i c a t i on p a r a de in t he c i r c u m s t a n c es w as e s s e n t i a l, but w as n e v er h e l d, t he p r o b a t i ve v a l ue of any such p a r a de b e i ng c o m p l e t e ly v i t i a t ed w h e n , s ix d a ys l a t e r , t he a p p e l l a nt w as p r e s e n t e d, u n d er a r r e s t, to t he s e c o nd p r o s e c u t i on w i t n e ss at t he p o l i ce s t a t i o n. What I term a "Charge Office identification" is of e v en less p r o b a t i ve v a l ue t h an a c o u rt r o om identification. T he l e a r n ed t r i al M a g i s t r a te f o u nd s u p p o r t i ng e v i d e n ce 1n t he f i n d i ng of t he k e y s. T he l e a r n ed - 5- C o u n s el for t he a p p e l l a nt M r. M p h u t l a ne s u b m i ts t h at s u ch k e ys w e re n e v er p r o p e r ly i d e n t i f i ed by t he o w n er t h e r e o f. T he M a n a g er of M e t r o, the d r i v er of t he v e h i c l e, did t e s t i fy that t he k e ys w e re b e f o re t he C o u r t. The p o l i ce o f f i c er w ho p r o d u c ed the k e ys t e s t i f i ed t h at he f o u nd k e ys in t he van w h i ch w e re " s i m i l a r" to t h o se s t o l en in t he r o b b e r y. A g a in he said t h at t he k e ys w e re " b e f o re C o u r t ". He t e s t i f i ed h o w e v er t h at t he k e ys had b e en "in p o l i ce c u s t o d y" (for six m o n t h s ). He did not say in w h o se c u s t o dy t h ey had b e e n, and I can o n ly p r e s u me t h e r e f o re t h at t he k e ys w e re not in the w i t n e s s' c u s t o d y. An e x h i b it can o n ly be p r o d u c ed f r om c u s t o dy by t he c u s t o d i an t h e r e o f. I c a n n ot see t h a t, six m o n t hs l a t e r, t he p o l i ce o f f i c er c o u ld be s u re of r e c o g n i z i ng a b u n ch of k e ys w h i ch w e re n ot his p r o p e r t y, and w h i ch had not b e en in his c u s t o d y. He m a de no a t t e m pt to r e f er to any d i s t i n g u i s h i ng m a r ks t h e r e o f. In p a r t i c u l ar t he p o l i ce o f f i c er a d d u c ed no e v i d e n ce of e v er p r e s e n t i ng t he k e ys to t he M a n a g er of M e t ro in o r d er to e s t a b l i sh o w n e r s h ip t h e r e o f, nor of a t t e m p t i ng to a s c e r t a in w h e t h er in f a ct t he k e ys f i t t ed t he l o c ks on t he v e h i c le f r om w h i ch t he m o n ey had b e en s t o l e n. T he l e a r n ed t r i al M a g i s t r a te n e v er o n ce s p e c i f i c a l ly a d v e r t ed to the p o s s i b i l i ty of h o n e st - 6- m i s t a k e. I am n ot s a t i s f i ed t h at h ad he t a k en i n to a c c o u nt t he m a t t e rs to w h i ch I h a ve r e f e r r ed a nd d i r e c t ed h i m s e lf a c c o r d i n g l y, t h at he w o u ld i n e v i t a b ly h a ve c o n v i c t ed t he a p p e l l a n t. It w o u ld be u n s a fe to a l l ow t he c o n v i c t i on to s t a n d. T he a p p e al is a l l o w ed t h e r e f o re a nd t he c o n v i c t i on a nd s e n t e n ce of t he C o u rt b e l ow a re s et a s i de and t he a p p e l l a nt is a c q u i t t e d. D e l i v e r ed at M a s e ru t h is 1 7 th D ay of M a r c h, 1 9 8 9. B. P. C U L L I N AN J U S T I CE C H I EF