Defense says prosecution woefully failed to prove their case
August 25, 2016 By Hawa Amara
Defence counsel Ishmael Philip Mammie, representing first accused Mbaimba Moiforay, who is one of three persons accused to have murdered David Sydney Buckle a.k.a. DJ Clef, yesterday emphasised that state prosecutors have woefully failed to prove their case against his client.
He made the assertion while addressing Justice Alusine Sesay and a 12 man jury at the Freetown High Court, submitting that the prosecution told a story to the judge and jury when presenting their case instead of submitting facts.
He reminded the jury that the burden of proof was on the prosecution to establish the guilt of the accused persons, adding that the prosecution has left their case to the jurors to determine which according to him, is not their duty.
He submitted that there was no evidence before the court to implicate the first accused of conspiracy.
He averred that the state prosecutors must establish who killed the deceased, why was he killed, when was he killed and where was he killed.
Lawyer Mammie stated in his address that the prosecution also failed to submit facts linking the first accused to the alleged murder of the DJ Clef, arguing that relying on circumstantial evidence was not enough to convict the accused.
He thus pleaded with the court to acquit the accused persons, particularly the first accused, whom he said had no knowledge of the deceased and had never met him before.
“The defense regrets the death of the deceased, but has nothing to do with the first accused. The deceased was never invited to the party by any of the accused,” he said.
He underscored that all the seventeen prosecution witnesses summoned by the state did not tell the court that they saw the accused persons murder the deceased, and that there was no evidence to pinpoint who did the killed.
He said the video clip that was shown in court showed the body wrapped in a brown carpet that he was buried with, adding that fibres that were seen at the alleged scene of crime did not have any connection with the carpet as they were not put to forensic test.
The defence counsel stated that the pathologist report has several contradictions, including that the deceased was murdered on 23 May, which he changed during cross-examination as indeterminate.
He submitted that the pathologist report stated that a brown boxer was found on the deceased when it was exhumed for postmortem, while the testimony of the fourth prosecution witness indicated that the deceased was last seen with a red boxer.
He argued that such inconsistencies reinforce the fact that the deceased left the party and went somewhere else where he could have changed his underwear.
He said that prosecution witness number 13, Ibrahim Hassan, an Operational Support Division officer that was deployed at the residence of the first accused had told the court that the car cover was brown, while the pathologist report stated that it was pinkish brown in colour.
“The doctor’s report was inconsistent and unreliable,” he insisting, “when the video clip was shown in court there was an indication that dogs feasted on the remains of the deceased, but the doctor’s report stated that the removal of toes of the deceased was not consistent with dog feasting.
“The first accused is not guilty and cannot be found guilty by virtue of the evidence and the submission of the prosecution. Court cannot convict someone base on similarity and specification of the similarity must be provided,” he argued.
He said there was a fundamental doubt in the case of the prosecution, which according to him was laden with contradiction.
The matter was adjourned to Friday, 26 August when counsel Pious Sesay and Hindolo M. Gavao are expected to address the court on behalf of the second and third accused persons respectively.
Meanwhile, the prosecution had told the court that they relied on circumstantial evidence to prove the guilt of the accused persons.
Mbaimba Moiforay, Amara Kamara and Avril Oredola Renner are before the court on two counts of conspiracy to murder and murder, contrary to law, which they deny. They have been in custody since the commencement of the trial in 2013.