SAFLII [Home] [Databases] [WorldLII] [Search] [Feedback]

Botswana: Court of Appeal

You are here:  SAFLII >> Databases >> Botswana: Court of Appeal >> 1989 >> [1989] BWCA 16

[Database Search] [Name Search] [Recent Decisions] [Noteup] [Help]

Thekiso v The State (Court of Appeal No. 22 of 1989) [1989] BWCA 16 (4 December 1989)

PDF of original document.PDF of original document

.RTF of original document

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF REPUBLIC OF BOTSWANA
Court of Appeal No. 22 of 1989
In the matter between:
NORMAN THEKISO   Appellant
and
THE STATE        Respondent
Appellant in Person
Mr. P. Sedie for the Respondent
RULING
Coram: T.A. AGUDA, JA. B.A. DOYLE, JA. W..H.R. SCHREINER, JA.
SCHREINER, JA.
The application for leave to appeal against the judgment of Livesey Luke, CJ in the above matter is dismissed.
I have traced through the tangled evidence the progress of the beasts which form the subject matter of the charged from their owners to the possession of the police, and the part which the appellant played. The chain has been proved.
The only possible basis upon which the convictions can be attacked is that the witnesses in whose possession the animals were found have implicated the appellant in order to conceal their own guilt. It is somewhat strange that cattle which had been stolen should be left by the appellant in the possession of farmers over a substantial period of time for the purpose, in the one case, of the farmer using them for ploughing and in the other, because the

appellant had his cattle were tired. There is no doubt that, having
been found in possession of stolen stock, the position of Mokatanyane
and Kgoko was delicate and there would have been a motive to attempt
to shift responsibility from their shoulders. However, their
evidence and that of those who corroborate them on certain aspects
has been found to be without material contradictions which is not
likely to be the case if their story was a complete tissue of lies.
Though neither the magistrate nor the learned Chief Justice
dealt expressly with the weight to be attached to this consideration,
they must have had it before them. The applicant has had a hearing
before two Courts and I am of the view that there is no prospect of
successfully reversing those judgments in this Court.
DELIVERED IN OPEN COURT at Lobatse this 4th December, 1989.
W.H.R. SCHREINER, JA

I agree
T. A. AGUDA, JA

I agree

B. A. DOYLE, JA.

SAFLII: | Terms of Use | Feedback
URL: http://www.saflii.org/bw/cases/BWCA/1989/16.html