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Jimmy v The State (Criminal Appeal No. 31 of 1984 ) [1984] BWCA 20; [1984] B.L.R. 218 (CA) (3 December 1984)

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only evidence connecting the appellant with the offence was that of a witness who saw his near the scene of the breaking in at about the time of the alleged offence and the learned Chief Justice thought it would be unsafe to base a conviction on evidence of this nature*
Mr* Afful who appeared for the State commendably drew the attention of the Court to other features which in his submission led to the conclusion that the conviction by the Magistrate and the dismissal of the appeal by the High Court were not justified* The Court is Indebted to Mr* Afful for raising all these points* everyone of which has substance* I find it unnecessary to refer to them in any detail except possibly one point, i*e* on the question of footprint evidence* which was apparently relied upon by the Magistrate in convicting* It has been pointed out in the cases cited by Mr. Afful, State v Nvaabe & Others 1973(1) B.L.R. 2 and State v Ngwanawadl.lo 1979 B.L.R. 65 that although in Botswana many people possess the ability to recognise footprints and and shoe prints, only an expert could possibly testify as to whether prints were made by the saae person* Evidence given by the appellant why he came to be where he was when arrested, may well be true* In these circumstances I uphold the appeal and quash the conviction and sentence*
GIVEN at the Court of Appeal, Lobatae, this 3rd day of December 1964*
I. A. MAISELS JUDGE PRESIDENT
2

I agree:         S. W. KENTRIDGE
JUDGE OF APPEAL
I agree:         N. R. HANNAH