James Noah V. The State (2014)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

UCHECHUKWU ONYEMENAM, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment)

The appeal is against the judgment of the High Court of Kwara State, Ilorin delivered on 2nd February, 2007 in case No: KWS/OM/2C/2005; wherein the Appellant was convicted for the offence of culpable homicide punishable with death under Section 221 of the Penal Code.

By an amended charge dated 16th October, 2006 the Appellant was charged thus:

“That you James Noah on or about 28th day of November, 2003 at about 09.00 hrs in Oke Ode in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did beat one Adisat Mohammed to death in the course of wanting to have sex with her and thereby committed an offence of culpable homicide punishable with Death contrary to Section 221 of the Penal Code”

The Appellant who was arraigned on 7th November, 2005, pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the single charge.

The Respondent at trial, called 3 witnesses, while the Appellant testified for himself. After the parties closed their respective cases, counsel for the parties filed their written addresses. The learned trial Judge thereafter delivered his judgment on 2nd February, 2007.

Dissatisfied with his conviction, the Appellant filled a Notice of Appeal on 20th June, 2013 pursuant to the order of this Court extending time for the Appellant to appeal out of time.

Briefs of argument were exchanged by Counsel to the parties in line with the rules of Court. Appeal was subsequently heard on 26th March, 2014.

In the Appellant’s brief settled by Mr. Ayodeji Omotoso, the learned counsel raised 2 issues from the 3 Grounds of Appeal for the determination of the appeal. The 2 issues are as follows:

“1. Whether the confessional statements tendered by the prosecution (Exhibits 01, 02, 03 and 04, respectively) were property admitted in evidence as such and properly relied upon by the Court to ground a conviction against the Appellant for the offence of culpable homicide punishable with death under Section 221 of the Penal code?

2. Whether there was cogent, credible and sufficient evidence before the learned trial Judge which proved that the allegedly deceased person had, in fact, died and/or that, if she had, in fact died, the Appellant caused her death, such as to ground conviction against the Appellant for the crime of culpable homicide punishable by death under section 221, of the Penal Code.”

Mr. Kamaldeen Ajibade, the Honourable Attorney-General of Kwara State, in the Respondent’s brief filed on 25th February, 2014 but deemed properly filed and served on 27th February, 2014 adopted the 2 issues formulated by the Appellant.

I shall resolve the appeal the 2 issues stated above.

Issue 1

Mr. Omotoso invited the court to pages 76, 78 and 79 of the record to submit that the learned trial Judge was in error to admit and evaluate Exhibit 01 as a confessional statement. On what a Confessional statement is and when a Court can admit and rely on a statement as a confessional statement, he relied on section 27(1) and (2) of the Evidence Act, 2011; Shazali v. The State (1988) 5 NWLR (Pt. 93) 164.