By Ibrahim Kabba Turay
29-year-old commercial motor bike rider, Christopher Lavalie, alias Pigeon, has been sentenced to 45 years imprisonment at the Male Correctional Centre for murder.
Justice Monfred Sesay pronounced the sentencing after the 11-member jury unanimously returned a guilty verdict in respect of a one count indictment of murder.
It was alleged that the convict, on the 22nd March 2022, stabbed and murdered Josephus Cornclius Metzger at Amani Night Club, Brook Fields, Western Area of Freetown. Upon his arraignment, the accused denied the allegation.
In order to make their case, the prosecution led in evidence a number of witnesses in support of their case including the government Pathologist, Dr.Owiz Koroma, who said the death was unnatural.
In his certified medical cause of death, Dr. Simon Owizz Koroma, who performed an autopsy on the remains of the deceased, said he died as a result of stab wounds.
In her statement to the police, the accused said he was at the Amani Night Club dancing when the deceased hit him at his back, said he retaliate by hitting the deceased with a Scissors .
Acting on the verdict of the jurors, Justice Sesay said the prosecution had proven their case beyond reasonable doubt.
In his summing up address to the jurors, Justice Monfred Sesay lamented on the weight and seriousness of the case and urged them not to attach emotions in their considerations, but deliver justice to both the victim and the accused person as the facts in the case revealed.
He said that the burden and standard of proof in all criminal trials of this nature is that, the prosecution must prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt by meeting all the elements of the offence charged.
Justice Sesay drew the attention of the jury to the autopsy report and Medical Certificate of the cause of death tendered by Prosecution Witness, Dr. Simeon Owizz Koroma, as well as the evidence of the other three witnesses.
