Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Constable Charles

 

Charge:

Manslaughter

Sentence:

5 years

Years Imprisoned:

0.85

Year Crime:

2011

Year Convicted:

2013

Year Cleared:

2014

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Tanzania

County or Region of Crime:

Kigoma

City of Crime:

Rungwe Mpya

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Police Inspector Baraka Hongoli, Corporal Swahibu, Detective Constable Jerry, Constable Charles, Detective Constable Shamsi, Detective Constable Amran, and Detective Corporal Mawazo were codefendants. All seven police officers were wrongly convicted on June 21, 2013 of manslaughter in the death of suspected robber Festo Stephano on August 6, 2011 in Rungwe Mpya village in Kasulu district, in the Kigoma region of Tanzania. The seven codefendants were acquitted of murder, but after thier convictions of the lesser offense of manslaughter each was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. In April 2014 Tanzania's Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of the 7 codefendants and ordered their immediate release on the basis the prosecution introduced insufficient evidence of thier guilt and their convictions were based on speculation. The appeals court ruled regarding the judge's reasoning for finding the men guilty, "To a large extent his summary of the reasons why he convicted the appellants was speculative and self-contradictory because he also said in the judgment that the matter was not sufficiently investigated. Trial courts have to be guided by the evidence before it in determining the issues which arise in the cases brought before them and not speculation.""

Conviction Caused By:

"The trial judge relied on speculation the codefendants were guilty, and not evidence."

Innocence Proved By:

In April 2014 Tanzania's Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of the 7 codefendants and ordered their immediate release on the basis the prosecution introduced insufficient evidence of thier guilt and their convictions were based on speculation.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Tanzania: Judge's Faulty Summary Saves Seven Cops From Jail, By Faustine Kapama, Tanzania Daily News, April 28, 2014"

Information Location 1:

http://allafrica.com/stories/201404280137.html

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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