Akinyede Olaiya V. The State (2014)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

FATIMA OMORO AKINBAMI, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment)

The Appellant herein, a Police Corporal Akinyede Olaiya and one Corporal Ameh Richard were jointly arraigned before the High Court of Ekiti State on the 31st day of October, 2012; charged with the murder of Ipinlaye Michael and Faluyi Ayo Kehinde respectively at Kota, Omuo-Ekiti on the 23rd March, 2011.

They pleaded not guilty to the charge. During the trial, three witnesses testified for the prosecution and sixteen (16) documents were tendered in evidence and admitted as exhibits. The Appellant and the co-accused each testified in his defence and one witness was called in their joint defence.

At the end of the trial and in a reserved and considered judgment, Adesodun, J, found the Appellant and his co-accused guilty as charged. His Lordship convicted and sentenced each of them to death by hanging.

The Appellant being dissatisfied with the Judgment of the lower Court filed a Notice of Appeal on 24th April, 2013 containing five (5) grounds of appeal against the Judgment at page 158 -164 of the record of appeal. I hereunder reproduce the grounds of appeal without their particulars as follows:-

(1) That the learned trial judge committed a grave error in law and in fact in convicting the Appellant of the offence of murder and sentencing him to death by hanging when prosecution failed in all respects to prove the charges against the Appellant.

(2) The learned trial Judge erred in law and in fact when he relied on the identification parade conducted on the Appellant despite its unreliability, inconsistency and failure to identify the Appellant and link him with the alleged murder of Kehinde Ayo Faluyi.

(3) The learned trial Judge erred in law when he relied on inadmissible, uncorroborated and hearsay evidence and mere suspicion in reaching the conclusion that the Appellant was guilty of murder and thereby occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice.

(4) The learned trial Judge erred in law and in fact when he wrongly evaluated the evidence adduced at the trial and thereby arrived at the perverse decision that the Appellant was guilty of murder.

(5) The learned trial Judge erred in law when he admitted Exhibit ‘F’ and relied on same in the conviction and sentencing of the Appellant.

Parties filed and exchanged briefs of argument.

At the hearing of the appeal on the 11th of February, 2014, Mr Olaotan Ajose-Adeogun, counsel for the Appellant who also settled the Appellant’s brief of argument formulated three issues for determination of the appeal. Counsel adopted the brief. The issues formulated by the Appellant are reproduced here under as follows:-

Issue No. 1 -Whether having regard to the totality and quality of the evidence led, both oral and documentary, has the prosecution not charged the Appellant wrongly under Section 316 of the Criminal Code for the offence of murder, and whether the learned trial Judge was not in error to have sentenced the Appellant to death for the offence of murder when the prosecution clearly charged the Appellant under the wrong section of the relevant law and failed to prove the offence of murder as charged beyond reasonable doubt (Ground 1).

Issue No. 2 -Whether the court followed the proper procedure and standard to be adopted for identification parades and if not did this have any significant and material effect on the proper identification of the Appellant and ultimately on the guilty verdict and sentence passed on him (Ground 2).