High Court judge Justice Rex Foukona found lack of evidence against accused John Bikinemu Oritalea.
Justice Foukona said the prosecution case against Oritalea has a lot of loopholes.
Oritalea and another suspect the late Kalisto Geniufuria were accused of killing Australian James Symes, who was manager of Lavuro Coconut Plantation on 22 December 1989.
It was alleged the killing took during a robbery which saw the wages for workers being stolen from the manager.
Oritalea was arrested in 2008.
But Justice Foukona said there are no direct evidence from any witness claimed to have personal knowledge, that the accused was seen carrying out unlawful acts.
He said the crown evidence against the accused is wholly circumstantial.
“Circumstantial evidence is evidence from which the desired conclusion may be drawn, but which requires the tribunal of fact not only to accept the evidence presented, but also to draw an inference on it.”
He said there are loopholes in the crown witnesses’ evidence which are vague in regards to date and time.
Justice Foukona said the hat belonging to the accused that was found at the scene of the crime was never produced in court as exhibit for identification purposes.
The accused in his evidence laid all the blame on the late Geniufuria, saying it was him who did the killing.
A statement by one of the witnesses described the clothes the accused wore on that night when he and Kalisto arrived at his house.
The witness said Oritalea wore a short trousers and a long hand shirt to which Oritalea agreed to that and further states he never changed his clothes since the day they left Lavuro but Kalisto did.
“That piece of evidence is quite significant because if the accused did involve in inflicting the fatal wound on the deceased, by normal course of things, blood would have stained on his clothes especially the long hand shirt,” Justice Foukona said.
This he said could be a strong circumstantial evidence if proved.
He also stated that the crown has also opted not to call the doctor to clarify and be cross examined for the abrasion and wounds whether they were caused by the same instrument said to be taken by the accused on that day or not.
“The medical report does not link the accused to the sharp instrument that caused the death of the accused.
“There are no evidence at all that the accused and Kalisto were armed with weapon which they used to murder the deceased with or to prove the murder weapon found at the scene of the crime was the one carried by the accused.
“The Prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused posses the evil mind to kill and rob the deceased.”
Private lawyer Andrew Nori represented the accused.
Prosecutors Florence Joel and Mathew Coates of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) appeared for the crown.
By ASSUMPTA PIVA
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