Facts
The accused was charged with murder contrary to section 196 of the Penal Code was alleged that she shot her husband in their bedroom. The main line of defence was that the deceased committed suicide. The prosecution called 15 witnesses including a ballistic expert. The prosecution case was mainly based on circumstantial evidence.
Held: (i) The accused can only be convicted of an offense on the basis of the strength ofthe prosecution case and not on the basis of the weakness of the defense.
(ii) When an accused is charged with an offence his or her guilt is not established or proved if the explanation he or she offers is one which is reasonable and might possibly be true even if the Court is not convinced that it is in fact true.
(iii) To ground a conviction on circumstantial evidence, the following principles apply;
(a) that evidence must be incapable of more than one interpretation
(b) the facts from which an inference of guilt or adverse to the accused is sought to be drawn, must be proved beyond reasonable doubt and must clearly be connected with the facts from which the inference is to be drawn or inferred
(c) in murder cases, evidence should be cogent and compelling as to convince a jury, judge or Court that upon no rational hypothesis other than murder can the facts be accounted for.
(iv) More weight ought to be given or attached to the evidence given of peoples' acts than their alleged words which are easily mistaken or misinterpreted.
(v) The duty of an expert is to furnish the Court with the necessary scientific criteria for testing the accuracy of their conclusions so as to enable the Court to form its own independent judgment by the application of these criteria to the facts proven in evidence.
(vi) Since the evidence of an expert is likely to carry more weight than that of an ordinary witness, higher standards of accuracy and objectivity are requried from him. An expert should provide independent assistance to the Court by way of objective unbiased opinion in relation to matters within his expertise and should never assume the role of an advocate.
(vii) When facts in question upon which an expert testified are dependent upon ordinary human powers at perception, an expert may be contradicted by levy witnesses.
(viii) Special skill is not confined to knowledge acquired academically but includes also skill acquired by practical experience.
(ix) There is no rule oflaw which bars the reception of the evidence prejudicial to the character of the deceased when his death or its cause is in issue.
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