Yesterday an old client called me and referred me to a fellow who according to him has been in the police detention for days now having been accused of culpable homicide. He (the old client) was suggesting to me that according to my write up which I titled ‘ The Accused Must Not Prove His Innocence’ (available on this platform) which he got to read, the accused, his friend who is in police detention should not be made to prove his innocence as he is still presumed innocent by law and it is the general principle as I postulated in my earlier article that the accused should not prove his innocence as it is the duty of his accusers to prove that he did committed the offense he is been accused of.

By this his premise, he asked me to do something about it.

Disclaimer

As it is said that in every general rule there will always be an exception or even exceptions, this is the case here as there is also an exception to this general rule of; ‘he who alleges must prove’ and to this effect, the accused must prove his innocence in some certain circumstances for him to be let off the hook and in this instance where he is to prove his innocence, he is no longer presumed innocent.

Sequel to my last piece where I vehemently argued that it is the legal and a long standing principle of law of evidence that when you are accused you don’t have to prove your innocence to your accusers as you are still very much presumed innocent at law and your accusers have the duty to pin the crime they are accusing you of to you but there’s an exception to this general rule is which called ‘the doctrine of last seen’.

This doctrine, last seen as an exception to the general rule of presumption of innocence, was given flesh in the recent case of Illiyasu v. The State (2015) LPELR -24403 where the court postulated that although it is the general principle of law of evidence that an accused is presumed innocent of the crime he is been accused of thereby making the onus of proof to be on the accusers to prove the accused’s guiltiness but not when he was last seen with the victim of the crime or last seen at the scene of the crime.

This is no doubt a total deviation from the presumption of innocence general rule as the accused if last seen with the victim of the crime or last seen at the crime seen is no longer presumed to be innocent and therefore, the evidential burden of prove, to prove his innocence shifts from the accusers (prosecution) to the accused. In this instance, the circumstances evidence outweighs the burden of proof casted in the prosecution.

It is essential to note that in criminal matters, the legal burden of proof is static as it is always on the prosecution while the evidential burden of proof swings and sways during trial. See generally S.135 and S.139 of the Evidence Act, 2011.

This doctrine of last seen as an exception to the general rule of presumption of innocence simply points to the fact that if an accused was last seen with the victim of the crime or last seen at the venue of the crime then the onus of proof is then on him to either prove his innocence as he is no longer presumed to be innocent at law.

In conclusion, it is the writer’s aim for the readers not to get misled and swallow the general rule of presumption of innocence hook-line and sinker and they should in all diligence also pay attention to exception of this general rule of presumption of innocence which is called ‘doctrine of last seen’, not just this but pay rapt attention to the exception or exceptions to every general rule that they can think of.

Join us today at Tekedia Live as we continue the conversation on the mechanics of markets and business systems. Our Faculty today is Oluwole Ogunlade and he will be teaching on Effective Corporate Partnerships. Wole is a zen-master on how companies can leverage strategic partnerships to advance their missions. A Director of Corporate Partnerships in Kryptova Hong Kong with deep connections in the startup ecosystems, he will explain the path today.

Thur, Oct 14 | 7pm-8pm WAT  – Effective Corporate Partnerships – Oluwole Ogunlade. Zoom link in the Board

Tekedia Mini-MBA >> learn from the best

The exodus of bitcoin miners from China as a result of the Asian giant’s crackdown on cryptocurrency is resulting in an increase of miners in other countries. The US has been at the receiving end of the shift in crypto mining base from China, as most of the miners are finding a new home in the United States, particularly Texas.

Now the US has been named the world’s biggest source of bitcoin mining just two months after China’s crackdown, Financial Times reports.

According to the data published by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, quoted by the report, China’s share of the global hashrate — the computational power required to create bitcoin — fell from 44 per cent to zero between May and July. The country accounted for three-quarters of the global hashrate in 2019.

The US share of the global hashrate increased from 17 per cent in April to 35 per in August, while Kazakhstan rose 10 per cent to 18 per cent in the same period.

China clamped down on bitcoin miners over environmental concerns and the huge energy consumption it creates, which resulted in power failure in some Chinese provinces. Hence, the relationship between cryptocurrency miners and Beijing eventually soured irredeemably.

In the subsequent months, China declared everything crypto illegal, ordering financial institutions to desist from carrying out crypto-related transactions.

It was crystal clear, bitcoin miners’ time in China was up, prompting an exodus of miners in search of cheap energy and crypto-friendly politicians – and the US became a darling destination as many crypto mining companies shut down in China.

China’s bitcoin mining ban resulted in the “great mining migration” said Sam Tabar, chief strategy officer at Bit Digital, a New York-based bitcoin miner. The company suspended its operations in China, which it had been winding down since October 2020, after the prohibition, according to FT.

While China’s crackdown on bitcoin miners disrupted the crypto market, prompting massive selloffs that plummeted the market’s value, it did push for even redistribution of hashrate around the world.

Michel Rauchs, digital assets lead at Cambridge tracker, noted that “the effect of the Chinese crackdown is an increased geographic distribution of hashrate across the world”, adding that it could be seen as “a positive development for network security and the decentralised principles of bitcoin”.

Outside China, miners were having a field day as the downturn of the ban increased hashrate, and the displaced Chinese miners scrambled to resettle.

“The China shutdown has been great for the industry and US miners,” said Fred Thiel, chief executive of Marathon Digital Holdings, a Las Vegas-based crypto mining company. “Overnight, fewer players were going after the same finite number of coins,” Thiel added.

On average, 900 bitcoin are mined every day by machines that race to solve complex computational mathematical problems that unlock new digital coins, the report said. Between July and September, Marathon Digital Holdings produced 1,252.4 minted coins, 91 per cent more than the previous quarter, reflecting increase in mining activity as a result of the inactivity of Chinese competitors.

But Thiel said that the competition has intensified as Chinese miners settled in to new locations, notably Kazakhstan. “We’re back to where we were before the shutdown, so I expect the situation to stabilise,” he said.

Apart from Kazakhstan, where cheap energy is driving the inflow of migrating miners, Argentina has become another place of choice. However, the miners have continued to encounter new challenges as they resettle. From concern over bitcoin’s carbon footprint to central banks’ worry about cryptocurrency impact on traditional financial institutions, there has been a flurry of policy proposals to control the activities of the emerging market. Some countries are following the step of China by banning crypto, prohibiting financial institutions from investing or carrying out transactions on behalf of crypto traders.

While majority of governments are very concerned about the use of cryptocurrencies to carry out money laundering, others are largely worried about the amount of energy crypto miners consume, thus pushing laws to address it. The Kazakh government also passed a cryptocurrency mining tax that will come into effect in 2022.

But apart from energy and environmental concerns, China’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) e-yuan, is another factor behind its decision to kick cryptocurrency out of the country. With many facets of the e-yuan’s trial so far a success, China is readying it for use as soon as possible – its latest target time to debut the trial version being the Winter Olympics next February in Beijing.

Good People, this is an update on the Remote Work Administration & Remote Team Management training which took place on Tuesday as part of Tekedia Mini-MBA. A Florida-based company called Krozu delivered it under Tekedia Institute’s special labs. The recording is now in the Board.

We are confident that in a geographically unbounded and unconstrained digital world, opportunities will abound for leaders who can nurture, manage, and lead teams and projects, even remotely. We want our learners to be exposed to this future.

Meanwhile, registration for the next edition of Tekedia Mini-MBA has opened here.

Join us at Tekedia Capital’s Open Lecture as we examine the physics of discovering great startups. As a teacher, I have got a bell ready so that when the moment comes for those markets in Lagos, London or New York, we will be ready. Tekedia Capital runs an investment syndicate and we pool resources from people, companies, investing entities, etc, and take positions in tech-anchored companies operating in Africa and around the world.

Join us on Saturday and get an insight into how we work. Last quarter, we invested $3.5 million. Details of lecture….

• Topic: Investing in Africa’s Next Unicorns – A Tekedia Capital Playbook
• Presenter: Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe, Chairman, Tekedia Capital USA
• Date: Oct 16, 2021
• Time: 6pm – 6.45pm WAT

Venue: click here for Zoom link