03 Mar 2020

Kanye magistrate, Mr Bame Ngaka, has acquitted and discharged John Aaron of Kanye after the prosecution failed to build a prima facie case against him.

The accused was charged with driving a motor vehicle while his blood alcohol limit exceeded the maximum permissible by law.

The prosecution had called four witnesses to prove their case, two of which were admitted.

The court ruled that the matter be withdrawn with prejudice to the state since the charge sheet, affidavit and witness statements bore three different dates.

Even though witness statements indicated that the offence occurred on November 19, 2018, the charge sheet showed that the offence was committed on November 18, 2018 while the affidavit was prepared on November 8, 2018, which was 10 days before the accused person was arrested.

Efforts by the prosecution, led by Sub-inspector Choice Jenamiso, to plead for amendments to align the dates proved futile and they concurred that the matter be withdrawn.

The magistrate advised the prosecutors to ensure that they always got all facts right before proceeding with cases.

During cross examination of the state witnesses, the accused person also noted that one of the witness statements recorded a wrong registration number of the vehicle he was allegedly driving during the commission of the offence.

He further noted another mistake where the statement showed that his blood sample was sent for testing on December 24, 2018 while on the other hand the witness told court that the sample was sent for testing on November 24, 2018.

The accused told the court that it was difficult to believe such evidence, which had numerous mistakes, which the prosecution failed to amend before proceeding with trial. ENDS