The Court of Appeal sitting in Fort Portal has upheld the murder conviction of a Kasese man but reduced his prison sentence from 32 years to 26 years and 11 months after finding that the trial judge failed to properly consider mitigating factors.
In a judgment delivered by Justices Hellen Obura, Dr Asa Mugenyi and Stella Alibateese, the court dismissed the appeal against conviction filed by Robert Baguma Kimadu but partially allowed his appeal against sentence.
Kimadu had been convicted by the High Court in Kasese in March 2018 for the murder of Kule Douglas and sentenced to 32 years and 26 days imprisonment after deduction of remand time.
Court records showed that on the night of January 23, 2016, Kimadu and another suspect still at large allegedly assaulted the deceased at Kisojo Village in Kasese District. The deceased was reportedly slapped, kicked and beaten with a stick and iron bar over a disagreement involving payment for alcohol.
The injured man was later taken to a nearby bar operated by Rosemary Kemigisha, where the caretaker was allegedly paid Shs500 to allow him sleep there overnight. The following morning, the deceased was found unconscious and bleeding from the nose and mouth before being rushed to Kilembe Mines Hospital, where he later died on January 28, 2016.
Kimadu challenged both his conviction and sentence on four grounds, arguing among others that the trial record was incomplete, that his defence of alibi had been ignored, and that the sentence imposed was harsh and excessive.
His lawyers contended that part of the testimony of a key prosecution witness, identified as PW6, was missing from the certified court record, making it impossible for the appellate court to properly re-evaluate the evidence. They also argued that the trial judge had referred to evidence from a non-existent witness identified as PW8.
However, the appellate judges ruled that the alleged missing evidence was available in the handwritten notes of the trial judge and that the omission arose from typing errors during preparation of the record. The court found that the errors did not occasion a miscarriage of justice.
“The appellant has not demonstrated that a miscarriage of justice was occasioned to him,” the judges ruled.
On the defence of alibi, the court found that prosecution witnesses had consistently placed Kimadu at the scene of crime and linked him directly to the assault.
The judges particularly relied on the testimony of PW6, an eyewitness who told court that he saw Kimadu beat the deceased with a stick around the neck and head before later bringing the victim to the neighbouring bar in a critical condition.
The court held that the evidence disproved the alibi defence and confirmed the appellant’s participation in the fatal assault.
While upholding the conviction, the judges faulted the High Court for failing to expressly consider mitigating factors before sentencing Kimadu.
The appellate court noted that Kimadu was a first offender and had already spent more than two years on remand before conviction.
Citing previous murder cases involving similar circumstances, the judges found the sentence imposed by the trial court to be manifestly harsh and excessive.
“We therefore find that the sentence of 32 years and 26 days was manifestly harsh and excessive in the circumstances,” the court held.
The judges consequently set aside the sentence and substituted it with 29 years imprisonment. After deducting the two years and 14 days spent on remand, Kimadu will now serve 26 years, 11 months and 16 days from the date of conviction.
The appeal against conviction was dismissed, while the appeal against sentence succeeded in part.
English 