Recall that we reported that according to the autopsy report, it was medically certified that Junior died as a result of chemical intoxication hence corroborating the family’s allegation that their son was poisoned by his colleagues for his refusal to join their gang.
According to the first autopsy which was carried out by a consultant pathologist at the Central Hospital Warri, Clement Vhriterhire, the result revealed that Sylvester died of “acute lung injury due to chemical intoxication in a background of blunt force trauma.”
Subsequently, another autopsy was conducted by the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and the result revealed that Junior died of Septicaemia, lobar pneumonia with acute pyelonephritis and pyomyositis of the right ankle.”
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These autopsy reports have laid to rest the allegation of murder against the accused persons as it has exonerated them from the crime. The implication of the autopsy reports is that Junior wasn’t poisoned or beaten to death as alleged by the family and friends and even if he was beaten or poisoned by his colleagues, his death can not be linked to the above accusation.
In the Nigeria criminal justice system, for the offense of murder to be successfully established against the accused, the prosecution must satisfy these three conditions; first establish that there is death ie, the victim died, secondly the victim died from the actions and inactions of the accused ie, the acts of the accused must be directly linked to be the cause or causative effect of the death of the victim and finally the victim must have the intention or knowledge that his actions or inactions will cause the death or grievous body harm to the victim or that the death or grievous body harm will be the forseable effect of the accused actions.
The prosecution was unable to establish that second condition which is linking the accused to the death of Junior, hence the reason the accused was exonerated and which brings the murder case of Junior to a close and the accused exonerated for not been guilty of the death of the young lad.
This is definitely not how we want this case to turn out, we all want justice for the boy and his family compensated and the accused persons (the alleged bullies) to face the brash and harsh side of the law but “lex lex” (the law is the law) and we can’t say or do otherwise rather than obey it.
Moreover, when we talk about justice it should be known that justice is three-sided; justice for the aggrieved, justice for the society i.e. the government and also justice for the accused or the alleged offender. The accused or alleged offender, though accused to have committed a crime, still deserve justice and fair hearing so that there won’t be a wrongful conviction or an innocent man getting punished. As the saying goes, that the law would rather let ten guilty men go scot free than to convict one innocent man.
We will keep our ears to the ground to see what else will come of this case and we will always keep updating you and educating you on its legal implications and what the law says in that regard as your lawyer.
