Makoye Samwel @ Kashinje and 4 Others versus The Republic; Criminal Appeal No 32 of 2014: Court of Appeal of Tanzania at Tabora (Unreported).
- Evidence
- Confession – Retracted /Repudiated confession- A need to conduct trial within trial.
- Doctrine of recent possession – Attributes.
- Doctrine of recent possession – Identity of goods-what amounts to fool proof claim of custody?
Held:-
(i) Trial courts have a duty to hold trial within trial whenever an accused confessional statement is either repudiated or retracted before it is admitted in evidence. Once objection is made by the defence after the trial court has informed the accused of his right to say something in connection with it, which is an unavoidable duty on the part of the court, the trial court must stop everything and proceed to conduct a trial within a trial giving each side opportunity to call a witness or witnesses in support of its position.
(ii) Four prerequisites for invocation of the doctrine recent possession are
(a) The stolen property must be found with the suspect;
(b)The stolen property must be positively identified to be that of the complainant;
(c) The property must be recently stolen from the complainant; and
(d) The property stolen must constitute the subject of the charge.
(iii) The chain of custody requires that from the moment a piece of evidence is seized or collected, its every handling, custody or transfer must be documented up to the time of its production in court as an exhibit. Indeed, such handling would allay fears against there being any possibility of tempering with the exhibit in the process.