Inconsistencies in the evidence provided by prosecution witnesses have resulted in the release of a suspect convicted of murdering someone over a bottle of alcohol.
George Owino Adhoch is now free after the Court of Appeal overturned his 28-year prison sentence.
Adhoch and Juma Boi fought in a pub in Mnarani, Kilifi County, in 2018 over a bottle of alcohol.
“I saw Adhoch hit [Boi] in the chest and stomach with a club,” he said.
Adhoch was charged with Boi’s murder in the High Court, but he denied doing so.
In his defense, he provided an unsworn statement admitting to going to the pub that day.
However, he claimed that Boi was in a drunken stupor when he entered the bar, causing a fracas that resulted in a physical confrontation between them.
Adhoch claimed he, too, had been injured and requested a motorcycle to take him to the hospital.
Adhoch was found guilty and sentenced to death by the High Court.
A postmortem examination revealed that Boi died as a result of a severe head injury.
Two witnesses identified Adhoch as the assailant, that the cause of death was an unlawful act, and that the head injury indicated malice aforethought.
The court rejected his defense that he was defending himself after being provoked, stating that there was no evidence that Boi had done anything wrong.
Adhoch received a 28-year prison sentence. He filed an appeal after being dissatisfied with the High Court’s decision. He claimed that the judge should have considered the provocation and intoxication defenses.
Adhoch argued, through his lawyer, Ngumbao Mutua, that his conviction was based on insufficient evidence because the witnesses on whom prosecutors relied did not witness the incident. He also claimed that the watchman provided insufficient and inconsistent evidence about how Boi’s body was recovered.
State counsel Vivian Kambaga opposed the appeal, arguing that if murder could not be proven, the charge should be reduced to manslaughter.
In their final verdict, Court of Appeal justices Stephen Kairu, Jessie Lesiit, and Pauline Nyamweya stated that a review of the proceedings revealed several gaps.
According to them, the court could not tell whether the third witness was a watchman or the owner of the pub where the incident occurred based on his testimony.
The court was also unable to determine whether he was present at the time, and the testimony of two witnesses was contradictory.
The watchman initially stated that he had taken both Boi and Adhoch to the hospital, but later changed his story, claiming that the former had been left at the scene.
“One of the gaps in the prosecution case is a lack of clarity about how many people were involved in the fight that night.”
“Evidence from the second witness supports the appellant’s claim that [Boi] also fought with the third witness,” the judges wrote.
Because of the poor lighting at the scene, the judges stated that it was unclear what murder weapon was used or what area was targeted.
The court also stated that there was no link between what killed Boi and the beating he received from Adhoch.
The court also stated that based on the evidence of the investigating officer, it was unclear where Boi’s body was discovered.
They also determined that the evidence of the third witness, as observed by a fourth witness, did not show a nail cracking Boi’s skull.
“We conclude that the prosecution failed to prove the case against Adhoch beyond a reasonable doubt under the required standard of proof.”
As a result, the appeal is successful, the conviction is overturned, and the sentence is set aside,” the judges ruled.
