CORAM
ADEMOLA, CHIEF JUSTICE, NIGERIA
BRETT, JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
BAIRAMIAN JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
MBANEFO, JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
ADEMOLA CHIEF JUSTICE, NIGERIA
BRETT JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
TAYLOR JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
BAIRAMIAN JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
MBANEFO JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
PARTIES
MICHAEL ADEDAPO OMISADE & ORS APPELLANTS
THE QUEEN
RESPONDENTS
AREA(S) OF LAW
CRIMINAL LAW-TREASONABLE FELONY-CONSPIRACY
SUMMARY OF FACTS
The appellants and some other persons were charged with the offence of treasonable felony in the court below, some were discharged, some became crown witness, one died in prison, while the remaining eighteen appealed against their conviction.
HELD
The court held that the conviction should be sustained.
ISSUES
To what extent was it safe for the trial judge to have relied on the evidence of the accomplice witness and how far the evidence of each was corroborated
Whether the 3rd count was vague and bad for duplicity
RATIONES DECIDENDI
NUMBER OF WITNESSES REQUIRED TO PROVE THE OFFENCE OF TREASONABLE FELONY
The only interpretation which, in our view, can be ascribed to subsection (2)(a) is that if a defendant does not plead guilty to a charge of treason or treasonable felony, there must be two witnesses testifying in open court to the overt act alleged, or one witness to one overt act and one other witness to another overt act of the same kind of treason or felony. In effect, two different witnesses at least are needed to prove a count of treasonable felony. This however must not be taken to mean that a witness must be able to testify to an overt act in its entirety
EXTENT OF CORROBORATION NEEDED
The position, to our mind, is this-the Judge must ask himself whether or not he believes the evidence of the accomplice and, if he believes the evidence, then he must warn himself that it is unsafe to convict on it alone: he then looks for some additional evidence (not that of another accomplice) rendering it probable that the story of the accomplice is true and that it is safe to act upon it
COMPETENCE OF A WITNESS WHOSE INDICTED OF SAME OFFENCE
The relevant point in the case is that where two persons are indicted, when an order is made that they be separately tried, the evidence of one of them may be given against the other, although the witness has not been tried, nor acquitted, nor has pleaded guilty to the indictment.
NUMBER OF WITNESSES REQUIRED TO PROVE THE OFFENCE OF TREASONABLE FELONY
The only interpretation which, in our view, can be ascribed to subsection (2)(a) is that if a defendant does not plead guilty to a charge of treason or treasonable felony, there must be two witnesses testifying in open court to the overt act alleged, or one witness to one overt act and one other witness to another overt act of the same kind of treason or felony. In effect, two different witnesses at least are needed to prove a count of treasonable felony. This however must not be taken to mean that a witness must be able to testify to an overt act in its entirety
COMPETENCE OF A WITNESS WHOSE INDICTED OF SAME OFFENCE
The relevant point in the case is that where two persons are indicted, when an order is made that they be separately tried, the evidence of one of them may be given against the other, although the witness has not been tried, nor acquitted, nor has pleaded guilty to the indictment.
EXTENT OF CORROBORATION NEEDED
The position, to our mind, is this-the Judge must ask himself whether or not he believes the evidence of the accomplice and, if he believes the evidence, then he must warn himself that it is unsafe to convict on it alone: he then looks for some additional evidence (not that of another accomplice) rendering it probable that the story of the accomplice is true and that it is safe to act upon it
CASES CITED
R. v. McCafferty 10 Cox C.C. 603 at p. 611
R. v. Gallagher 15 Cox C.C. 291 at p. 318
R. v. Charlotte Winsor, 10 Cox 276
R. v. Baskerville [1916] 2 K.B.D. 658 at p. 665.
R. v. Arthur Fred Hancox 8 CAR. 193 at p. 197
R. v. Aladesuru & Others 39 C.A.R. 184
R. v. Meyrick & Anor. 21 CAR. 94
R. v. Ijoma 12 W.A.C.A. 220.
R. V. MeCafferty 10 Cox C.C. 603
R. V. Meyrick & Anor. 21 C.A.R. 94
STATUTES REFERRED TO
Criminal Code
Firearms Act (Cap. 69)
Treason and Felony Act, 1848
Evidence Act
Constitution of the Federation of 1960
1963 Constitution