70. From the record, this Court notes that the District Court exhaustively
considered the evidence presented against the Applicant, including the
credibility of witnesses particularly the victim of the robbery and his wife,
upon whose testimony the Applicant’s conviction hinged. The District Court
found the witnesses to be trustworthy, credible and honest. The District
Court noted in particular that the accused was not an unknown person to
the victim and his wife, and that the moonlight and burning hurricane lamp
had facilitated his identification. The District Court concluded that it was
satisfied “beyond any peradventure that the accused was the robber on the
material night” and that the prosecution had proved their case beyond
reasonable doubt.
71. On appeal, the High Court similarly found that in relation to evidence on
identification, the testimonies on which the conviction was based were
credible. It also found that the Applicant was properly identified and the case
was proved to the required standard noting that “the witnesses could not
have mistakenly identified the appellant as he as well known to them and
as he did not dispute that fact”. The Court of Appeal also reconsidered the
identification evidence and concluded that the Applicant had not provided it
with material that would warrant setting aside the decision of the High Court.
72. The Court observes that the national courts assessed the circumstances in
which the crime was committed and considered the arguments of both the
Respondent State and the Applicant, to eliminate possible errors as to the
identity of the perpetrator of the robbery. As it emerges from the record, the
domestic courts were particularly mindful of the dangers of convicting on the
basis of inaccurate identification evidence.
73. The Court finds, therefore, that the manner in which the domestic courts
evaluated the evidence leading to the Applicant’s conviction does not
disclose any manifest error(s) and was not tainted with injustice to the
detriment of the Applicant. Accordingly, the Court holds that there are no
grounds for interfering with the reasonings of the domestic courts.
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