Yahonis Singho,K.D. V. The Queen

[COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL]

1964 Present : T. S. Fernando, J. (President), Sri Skanda Rajah, J.,
and G. P. A. Silva, J.

K. D. YAHONIS SINGHO, Appellant, and THE QUEEN, Respondent

C. C. A. 99 OF 1964, WITH APPLICATION 103

S. C. 41.-M. C. Panadura, 81251

Trial before Supreme Court-Defence of alibi--Burden of proof-Misdirection.

The accused-appellant was charged with murder, and his defence was that of alibi. The prosecution relied on the evidence of a witness who stated that he saw the accused stabbing the deceased. The accused called as his witness a man, S, who stated that, at the time of the offence, the accused was seen at a boutique which was about one-eighth of a mile away from the scene of the offence. When the trial Judge, in his summing-up, dealt with S's evidence, he omitted altogether to give the jury any direction as to what they were to do if they neither accepted S's evidence as true nor rejected it as untrue.

Held, that the omission to direct the jury on the intermediate position where there was neither an acceptance nor a rejection of the alibi was a non-direction on a necessary point and constituted a misdir

Click Here to Read the rest of this document