Ogunleye Tobi V The State (2019)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

AMIRU SANUSI, J.S.C.

This appeal stemmed out from the judgment of Court of Appeal, Ibadan division (the lower or Court below) delivered on 6th day of July 2017 which affirmed the judgment of Ogun State High Court of Justice sitting at Ota in the Ota judicial division (coram M.A. Ojo J.) (the trial Court), delivered on 2nd June 2015 which convicted and sentenced the appellant as accused thereat, for the murder of Kolawole Badejo (deceased). The accused person now appellant, was arraigned before the trial Court and tried on one count charge of murder of the deceased Kolawole Badejo, contrary to Section 316 of the Criminal Code Law of Ogun State 2006. During the trial, the prosecution (now respondent) called two witnesses and tendered five (5) exhibits in proof of its case, while the accused, (appellant) testified for his defence without calling any witness. At the conclusion of the trial, the trial Court found him guilty as charged and sentenced him to death.

Aggrieved in the outcome of his trial, the appellant appealed to the Court below, albeit, without success in that the penultimate Court affirmed his

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conviction and sentence passed by the trial Court.

The facts of the case culminating in this appeal as could be gleaned from the record and as presented before the trial Court are that the accused/appellant had a fight with the deceased on 20th November, 2009 and in the course of the fight the appellant used knife and inflicted lethal injury on the back and left leg of the deceased. The deceased bled profusely which led him to the state of unconsciousness and was thereafter rushed to the hospital. Sequel to that, the appellant was arrested and arraigned before the trial Court and was tried convicted and sentenced.

Dissatisfied by his conviction and sentence, the appellant as I said earlier, appealed unsuccessfully to the Court below which affirmed his conviction and sentence by the trial Court. Further piqued by the affirmation of his conviction and sentence by the Court below, the appellant further appealed to this Court.

Before this Court, briefs of argument were filed and exchanged by the learned counsel to the parties in keeping with the rules and practice applicable in this Court, the appellant herein, filed the Appellant’s Brief of

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argument on 12/12/2017, settled by D.A. Awosika Esq, and same was adopted at the hearing of the appeal on 15th November, 2018. On its part, the respondent filed its Respondent’s Brief of Argument on 20th March, 2018 which was settled by Kehinde Aina Esq. The said brief was also argued and adopted at the hearing of the appeal on 15th November, 2018. The Appellant herein, raised sole issue for the determination of the appeal which reads thus:

“Whether having regard to the evidence adduced by the prosecution, the justices of the Court of Appeal were right in affirming the conviction and sentence of the Appellant for the offence of murder. (Distilled from Grounds one (1) and two (2) and (3)”.

Although at page 5 of its brief of argument the Respondent claimed that it adopted the con of the sole issue formulated by the appellant as reproduced above and agreed that that lone issue is apt for the determination of the appeal, its learned counsel nevertheless proceeded to rephrase the lone issue as encapsulated on page 5 of the said Brief.

The rephrased issue decoded by the respondent is set out hereunder:

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