Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
Death |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
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Year Convicted: |
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Year Cleared: |
2018 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Tanzania |
County or Region of Crime: |
Mara |
City of Crime: |
Tarime |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Mwita Marwa Morega aka Makala was wrongly convicted of killing four men in the Tarime district of the Mara Region of Tanzania. Mwita Morega was prosecuted based on eyewitness evidence that he killed the four villagers during a nighttime wedding ceremony following a misunderstanding between two clans. Morega's alibi defense was that he wasn't present at the wedding. After his conviction by a panel that consisted of a judge and lay assessors, Morega was sentenced to death. He appealed. In early January 2018 Tanzania's Court of Appeal unanimously vacated Morega's convictions and ordered his acquittal based on insufficient prosecution evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and prejudicial errors by the trial judge. The Court's ruling by Justices Bernard Luanda, Batuel Mmilla and Rehema Mkuye stated the prosecution's evidence was weak, and the judge failed to inform the assessors ""on the silent ingredients' of murder (malice aforethought), visual identification of witnesses to the appellant and his defence of alibi (being not present at the scene of crime)." The Court ordered Morega's immediate release from custody." |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"In early January 2018 Tanzania's Court of Appeal unanimously vacated Morega's convictions and ordered his acquittal based on insufficient prosecution evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and prejudicial errors by the trial judge. The Court's ruling by Justices Bernard Luanda, Batuel Mmilla and Rehema Mkuye stated the prosecution's evidence was weak, and the judge failed to inform the assessors ""on the silent ingredients' of murder (malice aforethought), visual identification of witnesses to the appellant and his defence of alibi (being not present at the scene of crime)." The Court ordered Morega's immediate release from custody." |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Appeals Court Acquits Mara Convict of 'Hanging' Verdict, By Faustine Kapama, Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam), January 8, 2018" |
Information Location 1: |
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-investigations/2018/01/08/cliven-bundy-ranch-standoff-case-retried-federal-court-ruling/1008051001/ |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org