Convict Acquitted, Discharged In Friend's Murder

Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Monday February 15, 2021 15:30

Othusitse Motefu was found ‘not guilty’ of murder by CoA judge Isaac Lesetedi for causing the death of his friend back in September 2013 after a successful appeal.

The appellant was charged, tried and convicted of the murder of his friend in August 2013 after the two got involved in a fight with third parties over a P100 note.

It is said that the deceased died a few days later on September 6, 2013, allegedly succumbing to the head injuries sustained in the fight.

According to court papers, some of the injuries were attributed to a stone thrown by Motefu directed at one of their opponents, which missed its target but hit the deceased on the forehead. 

While the CoA said it could not be seriously disputed that the appellant threw the stone, which hit the deceased on the forehead, there is no conclusion that was the cause of death.

CoA explained that the “issue of causation with seeming inconsistent head injuries is complicated by the fact that the deceased was normally functional for at least a day after being hit by the stone thrown by the appellant”.

The court described the decision by the prosecutor not to call the pathologist who reported on the cause of the death for oral submission, was fatal in the case of the State.

The court papers state that the pathologist had concluded from his report that the deceased died from grouped head injuries sustained during the fight. “From his remarks on the first page of the report, the pathologist most likely believed that the injuries were sustained in the cause of an assault from a single transaction.

It is unclear, whether he had sufficient information on the nature of the assault to give context to the injuries,” reasoned Lesetedi.

He said the failure to call such a pathologist, in this case, has left key questions on the causal chain between the unlawful act of the accused and the death of the deceased unanswered.

Lesetedi explained that the evidence of a Forensic Pathologist in unlawful causes of death is often critical to the successful prosecution and sometimes to the defence in a criminal case. He said he was not satisfied with the evidence presented before the court, particularly on the multiplicity of the injuries suffered by the deceased and their various locations on the head and if they were the cause of death.