Rev King urges court to quash death sentence

Condemned Christian Praying Assembly leader Chukwuemeka Ezeugo (alias Rev. King) yesterday urged the Court of Appeal, Lagos, to quash the death sentence passed on him by a Lagos State High Court, Ikeja. He urged the court to allow his appeal, saying Justice Joseph Oyewole erred in several respects and miscarried justice.

Ezeugo’s lawyer Olalekan Ojo adopted the appellant’s brief.

The respondent, Lagos State Government, represented by Solicitor-General Lawal Pedro (SAN), also adopted its brief.

Ezeugo was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging on January 11, 2007, for the alleged murder of a church member, Ann Uzoh.

He was arraigned on September 26, 2006 on a six-count charge of attempted murder and murder.

The prosecution said he poured petrol on the deceased and five other persons.

Uzoh died on August 2, 2006, 11 days after the incident.

Ojo filed a notice of appeal on January 16, 2007, containing 16 grounds of appeal against the judgment.

On June 10, 2008, the Appeal Court granted him leave to argue an additional 16 grounds of appeal through an amended notice of appeal filed on June 15, 2008.

Ojo said Ezeugo did not commit the crime because he was not present at the scene.

He said Uzoh had, in two statements before her death, said she got burnt in a generator accident and that the cleric was not responsible for her injuries.

Ojo said the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) tendered statements which said Ezeugo was not responsible for the burns which led to Uzoh’s death, but they were not admitted in evidence.

The lawyer said had those “vital exhibits” being admitted by the judge, “they would have cast doubts on the case of the prosecution.”

He added that Justice Oyewole’s refusal not to admit the exhibits in evidence “occasioned a great miscarriage of justice.”

Ojo urged the appellate court to determine whether the judge was right in raising suo motu (on his own) the issue of the admissibility of exhibits P1 and P4, which were oral evidence in which Uzoh reportedly stated that the burns she suffered were from a generator accident.

He also asked the court to determine “whether or not the judge was right in expunging from the record exhibits P1 and P4, as well as oral evidence in which the deceased declared that the injuries were from a generator accident and that the appellant was not responsible for the injuries.”

The lawyer added: “An aspect of fairness and impartiality that a court should exhibit is that it must not raise an issue suo motu and resolve it against a party without having heard the party against whom the issue has been resolved.”

But the state urged the court to uphold Justice Oyewole’s verdict.

“We urge your Lordship to dismiss this appeal,” Pedro said.

He said the Evidence Act permits the expulsion of inadmissible evidence, as the judge was the master of the evidence before him.

Pedro said there was enough corroborating evidence, both written and oral, upon which the conviction was secured.

The court reserved judgment till a date that will be communicated to parties.

Source: The Nation