THE Court of Appeal has placed the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) at a crossroads on whether or not to charge afresh, two Kagera Region residents who were acquitted of murder for allegedly killing a housewife over superstitious beliefs.
This followed the decision of Justices Mbarouk Mbarouk, Rehema Mkuye and Ferdinand Wambari to order a fresh hearing of the trial after allowing an appeal lodged by the prosecution to oppose to the acquittal of Revelian Naftali and Marick Emmanuel, the respondents, by the High Court.
"Considering ... ... the gravity of the offence against the respondents who were acquitted and are currently out of custody, we think we should order a retrial subject to the discretion of the DPP to act in accordance with the law either to proceed with the trial or rest the matter," they ruled.
They noted an error committed by the High Court during the hearing, notably the failure by the trial judge to explain to the court assessors on the vital points of law when he was summing up the evidence to them and no sufficient attention was drawn to the assessors on the salient facts of the case.
The justices were of the settled opinion that failure by the trial judge to give the assessors a proper summary diminished the value of their opinions to a minimum level, which could not have helped him to reach a fair decision in the case and for the interest of justice.
"We can safely state that this diminished the extent and the value of their opinions in the case which they were called upon to aid the trial court.
We therefore, respectfully agree with the submission of both counsel in this appeal who supported the appeal on these points," they ruled.
They said that informing assessors of their role and responsibility during the trial before they stepped into aiding and advising the court was a duty which must be undertaken by the judge with utmost diligence and enthusiasm in order to enable them be of help to the court in achieving fair justice.
It was alleged by the prosecution during the trial that the two respondents jointly and together murdered Karita Simon on April 25, 2011 in Nyamalwa Village in Ngara District in Kagera Region.
Facts show that the deceased was a close friend of the wife of Naftali. On January 27, 2011, the Naftari's child died. After the burial the following day, the deceased went to Naftali's house and told him that his child had not died but had been snatched through witchcraft.
The information and the names of the individuals mentioned as suspects over the child's death were reported to the village leaders. They summoned the man who was implicated alongside his wife, both of whom denied the allegations.
The village leaders tried to solve the matter amicably, but didn't succeed. At midnight on April 25, 2011, some machete-brandishing people stormed into the house and attacked and injured the deceased and her two children.
The children raised an alarm but she had already died by the time neighbours had rushed in to help them. The respondents and the husband of the man implicated in the death of the child were arrested and charged with the offence of murder.
After full trial of the respondents, the High Court found them not guilty and acquitted them, prompting the prosecution to appeal against the verdict.
