Lefu Jantjie Bakane

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	13.5
Year Crime:	2004
Year Convicted:	2009
Year Cleared:	2017
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	South Africa
County or Region of Crime:	Gauteng
City of Crime:	Pretoria
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Lefu Jantjie Bakane was wrongly convicted in 2009 of murder and aggravated robbery in the strangulation death of Johannes Albertus Maré at his house in Pretoria, South Africa on June 22, 2004. Maré's body was found on June 23, and that same day Bakane was arrested at his girlfriend's house. Four of his friends were also arrested. All elected to remain silent, but after being beaten and assaulted by the police, they signed statements without being allowed to know what was in the statements. The Statement were confessions to the crime. A search of the residences of Bakane and his co-accused did not result in the finding of any incriminating evidence from Maré's house, and there was no crime scene evidence linking any of the five to the crime. During the trial of Bakane and his codefendants the prosecution's case was solely based on their confessions. Their alibi defense was they were elsewhere at the time of Maré's murder. Trial Judge Natvarnal Ranchod denied the defense motion to exclude the statements on the basis they were signed under duress (and without knowning their contents). Judge Ranchod ruled, "We accept that some slapping and rough handling took place. The slapping could be classified as assault‚ but not torture." After their convictions by Judge Ranchod they were sentenced to concurrent sentences of life in prison for murder, and 15 years for aggravated robbery. The five appealed. In 2015, their convictions and sentences were affirmed by a majority 2 to 1 vote of the High Court in Pretoria. Judge K. Manamela dissented on the basis the trial judge erred in not excluding the confessions that were obtained by police assaulting the defendants. Judge Manarnela wrote, "Obviously‚ without the confessions‚ the convictions collapse.” Bakane was the only one of the defendants who appealed the ruling to South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal. On December 5, 2017 the Supreme Court of Appeal unanimously (5-0) set-aside Bakane's convictions and found him not guilty based on the trial judge's erroneous admission of his statement signed under duress, which constituted the only evidence linking him to the crime. The Court's ruling stated: "In conclusion, it is clear that the trial court erred in admitting exhibit H [Bakane's statement] and convicting the appellant on the basis thereof in the absence of any cogent evidence. In line with the provisions of s 35 of the Constitution, once the trial court found that the appellant was assaulted, it should have excluded exhibit H.15 . Consequently, the trial court erred in its approach to the admission of exhibit H. The principle of bringing the law into disrepute is a material consideration when a court considers the exclusion of illegally obtained evidence and not its admission. The conclusion is compelling that, absent the admissions, there was no evidence on which the trial court could convict the appellant. The appeal therefore ought to succeed." [Bakane v The State (1180/2016) [2017] ZASCA 182 (5 December 2017)] In light of Bakane's successful appeal, it is possible Bakane's four codefendants will appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals."
Conviction Caused By:	False confession obtained by physical assault by the interrogating police officers.
Innocence Proved By:	"On December 5, 2017 the Supreme Court of Appeal unanimously (5-0) set-aside Bakane's convictions and found him not guilty based on the trial judge's erroneous admission of his statement signed under duress, which constituted the only evidence linking him to the crime."
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Was Perpetrator Identified?
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Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	Bakane v The State (1180/2016) [2017] ZASCA 182 (5 December 2017) (Setting aside Bakane's convictions on the basis the trial judge erred admitting his statement signed under duress.)
Information Location 1:	http://www.justice.gov.za/sca/judgments/sca_2017/sca2017-182.pdf
Information Source 2:	"Illegally obtained confession leads to setting aside of murder conviction, By Ernest Mabuza, Sunday Times, December 5, 2017"
Information Location 2:	https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2017-12-05-illegally-obtained-confession-leads-to-setting-aside-of-murder-conviction/
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Lefu Jantjie Bakane

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

13.5

Year Crime:

2004

Year Convicted:

2009

Year Cleared:

2017

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

South Africa

County or Region of Crime:

Gauteng

City of Crime:

Pretoria

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

False confession obtained by physical assault by the interrogating police officers.

Innocence Proved By:

"On December 5, 2017 the Supreme Court of Appeal unanimously (5-0) set-aside Bakane's convictions and found him not guilty based on the trial judge's erroneous admission of his statement signed under duress, which constituted the only evidence linking him to the crime."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

Bakane v The State (1180/2016) [2017] ZASCA 182 (5 December 2017) (Setting aside Bakane's convictions on the basis the trial judge erred admitting his statement signed under duress.)

Information Location 1:

http://www.justice.gov.za/sca/judgments/sca_2017/sca2017-182.pdf

Information Source 2:

"Illegally obtained confession leads to setting aside of murder conviction, By Ernest Mabuza, Sunday Times, December 5, 2017"

Information Location 2:

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2017-12-05-illegally-obtained-confession-leads-to-setting-aside-of-murder-conviction/

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

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Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

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