In his testimony the second prosecution witness, Detective Police Constable, Mohamed Noah Kamara, told the court that he recognized the accused in the dock and vividly recalled the incident of 24 December 2015.
According to him, on the said date, he was on duty at the Criminal Investigation Department, CID, at the Lumley Police Station when a certain Abu Bakarr Kieta arrested and reported a case of assault against the accused on behalf of the deceased.
The witness further disclosed that he issued a police medical request form to the complainant on behalf of deceased and later him and Police Sergeant 7811 SH Rogers visited the scene of crime and recorded responses from witnesses. He said that on their arrival he observed blood stain on granite stones where the deceased had reportedly hit his head after he was pushed by the accused, allegedly resulting in his untimely death.
The police detective continued that a granite stone was handed over to him by one Mariama, which was alleged to be the stone used by the accused to hit the deceased, adding that on 25 December 2015 he obtained voluntary caution statement from the accused by cautioning and questioning him in Krio.
He informed the court that the accused made responses in Krio, which were recorded in English and at the conclusion of the interview statement, he said it was read and explained to the accused in Krio, which he admitted to be true and correct and signed it with his right hand thumb print. He said the statement had since been in the custody of police, which was produced, identified and tendered in evidence as part of court records.
The witness stated that he finally charged the accused with the offence of murder on 5 January 2016 and the post-mortem examination was conducted by the government consultant Pathologist and forensic expert in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Dr Simeon Owiss Koroma, on 4 January 2016, which was also produced and tendered in evidence.
During cross-examination by Counsel for the accused, C. Blake of the Legal Aid Board, the witness responded that he was not the sole investigator in the alleged murder case who visited the scene of crime where witnesses were interviewed and their responses recorded.
He further responded that the rock where the deceased allegedly hit his head after he was pushed by the accused was identified and handed over to them by a witnesses they interviewed, noting that the deceased had also stabbed the accused on his left finger.
