evidence at issue was not illegally obtained while section 169 only applies
when what is at issue is illegally obtained evidence. The Respondent State
also points out that the judgment of the Court of Appeal, at page 12, dealt
with the applicability of section 169 of the Criminal Procedure Act and found
no fault with the approach adopted by the High Court.
105. The Respondent State submits that the caution statements of the 2nd and
3rd Applicant were not admitted unprocedurally. In support of its submission,
it argues that “the law allows for conviction to be based solely on the
accused’s cautioned statement if the Court believes there was compliance
with the laws dictating how such statement was taken and if it find the
information contained in the statement to be true.”
106. In respect of the 2nd Applicant, the Respondent State submits that he
admitted, in his caution statement, that he was aware of the conspiracy to
rob the vehicle carrying money from Mohamed Enterprises and also that he
signed the caution statement and did not dispute his signature during trial.
As for the 3rd Applicant, the Respondent State submits that he admitted to
shooting the victims during the robbery, as the judgment of the Court of
Appeal indicates at page 20.
107. It accordingly submits that Exhibits P7, P9 and P10 were all obtained in
compliance with laid down procedure and that both the High Court and the
Court of Appeal were justified “in convicting the Applicants based on the
statements after being satisfied … of the prosecution case.”
***
108. From the record, the Court observes that the admissibility of the Applicants’
caution statements was dealt with at length by both the High Court and the
Court of Appeal. This is clear from pages 52 to 53 of the judgment of the
High Court. Additionally, from pages 55 to 56 of the High Court’s judgment,
the trial judge went at length to expound the legal basis on which he was
admitting the Applicants’ caution statements.
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