CRIMINAL LITIGATION LECTURE SCHEDULE AND TASK, WEEK 5 "PRE-TRIAL INVESTIGATION AND POLICE INTERVIEW"

NIGERIAN LAW SCHOOL

LAGOS CAMPUS

CRIMINAL LITIGATION LECTURE SCHEDULE AND TASK, WEEK 5

FOR MONDAY 28 NOVEMBER, 2016.

PRE-TRIAL INVESTIGATION AND POLICE INTERVIEW

OUTCOMES:

At the end of this lesson students would be able to:

1. Explain how to Conduct a pre-trial investigation;
2. Participate in a police interview;
3. Discuss how alibi, statements and confessions are recorded at the police station (“Judges Rule”) how identification parade is conducted and how exhibits are handled.
4. List and explain the Constitutional rights of a suspect at the Police Station;
5. Explain how to apply for assistance for a citizen under the Legal Aid Scheme; and how to obtain a police bail.
6. Explain options available to the suspect upon refusal of police bail – habeas corpus and fundamental rights enforcement.

CONTENTS:

1. How police interviews are conducted
2. Constitutional rights available to a suspect at the Police Station.
3. Advise on the rights and circumstances of Suspects that may require the services of the Legal Aid Scheme;
4. Advise on the procedure to be followed by the Police in conducting an effective station interview;
5. How to apply for police bail;
6. Advise on circumstances where the Police may grant bail pending further investigations.
7. Options available to the suspect upon refusal of bail by the police.

ACTIVITIES before class:

1. Students are expected to read the topic in advance and would need to read the following; The 1999 Constitution; Evidence Act 2011 and the Judges Rule; the Police Act; the Criminal Procedure Code; the Criminal Procedure Laws; Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State, 2011, Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 as well as the Legal Aid Act and guidelines.
2. All groups must prepare and answer the questions below and send to lecturers latest Sunday 27 November, 2016.

SCENARIO

Thiago Laye, Kalito Jankari, Mutalla Boboye and Baringa Poposky are all unemployed, but are very close friends and belong to a syndicate of Car Snatchers operating at the Mile 2 Nigerian Seme Border Highway, Lagos. They have been in operation for more than six years. The Police in several concerted efforts to track them down have lost not less than ten of their men. The syndicate are closely connected with Kayama Kayama a car dealer whose head office is in Lagos, and branch offices located in Wuse, Abuja and Kaduna respectively to whom they supply the snatched tokunbo cars for sale. They also agreed with the dealer to share the proceeds 70-30 after the sale of any car since the cars were yet to be registered in Nigeria. The latest supply of the three Nissan Xterra Jeep and Honda CRV jeeps was on August 01, 2016.

On 15^th August 2016 Colonel Muamur Lafinga purchased a red coloured 2010 Honda CRV from Kayama Kayama at his Abuja Office for Four Million and Five Hundred Thousand Naira and paid within one week through bank transfer. While on his way at the Abuja-Lokoja road to Lagos on 25^th August 2015 the officers of Nigerian Customs flagged down the car and demanded for the duty payment certificate at the port. Colonel Muamur Lafinga produced the custom papers given to him by the car dealer. Upon proper scrutiny the Custom men discovered that it was a forged duty certificate and threatened to impound the car unless he settles them with N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) only. Colonel Muamur Lafinga refused to part with any money but rather introduced himself as a military officer. The officers of the Nigerian customs refused to accord him any special treatment but instead impounded the car and ordered their truck driver to take the car to customs garage along Abuja/Lokoja route.

Colonel Muamur Lafinga went back to the Barracks and left with three rank and file officers Kabba Kabba, Bariko Bariko, and Benkol Benkol to the Customs Garage the same day, assaulted the Custom men on duty and drove away with the car. The Custom officers on duty attempted to resist them but they were overpowered and severely beaten. Upon their arrival back to Abuja, Colonel Muamur Lafinga visited Kayama Kayama the car dealer and demanded to know the source of the car after threatening to shoot him. Afraid that he will be killed he confessed that it was a stolen car supplied to him by his business partner. The officers thereafter took him to the Maitama Police Station and narrated his confession to officers on duty who recorded the confession.  

However, Kayama Kayama immediately made a statement at the station to the effect that he bought the car at Benin Republic and brought it into Nigeria without payment of duty. The officers detained him and upon severe interrogation which included dipping his upper limb into a drum full of water five times a day for about ten minutes each by officers, Corporal Myakumbo Malanha shot him on the leg while in detention so that he will not attempt to escape. On 30^th August 2016 whilst he was being dragged to the drum full of water he confessed orally by mentioning the names and whereabouts of Thiago Laye, Kalito Jankari, Mutalla Boboye and Baringa Poposky as those that supplied him with the car. The officers eventually cleaned him up and invited his lawyer the next day and in his presence Kayama reduced his confessional statement into writing. They were arrested on 2^nd September 2016 at their hideout in Abuja and both were later detained at Maitama Police Station Abuja. Upon their arrest they were all hand cuffed and placed on leg chain to forestall their escape because of their muscular body structure.  They made joint statements denying ever having anything to do with Kayama Kayama and stated that they have never met him.

The suspects have spent six days in detention and have only been feed twice by the police who also refused them access to their legal practitioners and family members. Their family members eventually rallied together and secured the services of Mr Alaye Baba a legal practitioner to secure their release. Due to the impecuniosity of Baringa Poposky’s parents they secured the services of a lawyer (Jatauyi Jatauyi) from Legal Aid Council. Mr Alaye Baba made a written joint bail application for his clients whilst Jatauyi Jatauyi made an oral bail application for his client, but the Police refused both applications.

Two days later at midnight while in detention Baringa Poposky in his dream saw the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in charge of the investigation pointing a gun to his head threatening to shoot him in the morning if he did not confess. He screamed and woke up sweating and shaking. He was terrified that the Policemen will kill him because they have refused to give him food for two days and that he will die eventually if he did not tell them the truth as soon as possible. He immediately called the officer on night duty (Inspector Kumilaya Baraga) and opted to confess implicating the other suspects. The officer recorded the confessional statement which was later signed by Baringa Poposky. Based on the confessional statement, search was conducted at their hideout and two rifles were found, two international passports and a huge amount of British pounds. The I.P.O labelled the rifles and kept it at the police station, while the money was paid into the Police Service Commissions account. The I.P.O took the passport home for safe keeping. All four members of the gang have been arraigned at Abuja High Court including Kayama Kayama.

ALL GROUPS TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WITH THE AID OF JUDICIAL AND STATUTORY AUTHORITIES BASED ON THE ABOVE SCENARIO

1.     Comment on the mode of interrogation employed by the police while interrogating Kayama Kayama which led to his mentioning of the names of the four accused persons.

2.     Comment on the action of the military men who arrested Kayama Kayama.

3.     What is the effect of the confessional statement of Kayama Kayama to the military men and the legal implication of the narrated confessional statement of Kayama by the military officers?

4.     Mention and discuss the constitutional rights available to the suspects at the police station and the remedies if any for the breach.

5.     The propriety of the action of the police by handcuffing and placing leg chain on Thiago Laye, Kalito Jankari, Mutalla Boboye and Baringa Poposky at Maitama Police station and their detention. 

6.     The police having denied the suspects bail, what are the options if any open to them in Abuja and in Lagos if any?

7.      What are the effect and/or purport of the statement made at midnight by Baringa Poposky at the police station in Abuja?

8.      Will the statement in 7 above be admissible in court if sought to be tendered? Give reasons.

9.     Comment on the propriety of the confessional statement of Kayama at the station in the presence of his lawyer.

10. Assuming at the trial when the statement in 7 above were to be tendered, Baringa Poposky’s counsel objected to the admissibility of the statement on the ground that his client never made any statement. Comment on the propriety of the objection and what the court will do.

11. Comment on the propriety or otherwise of the joint statements made by Thiago Laye, Kalito Jankari, Mutalla Boboye and Baringa Poposky at the station on 2^nd September 2016.

12. What would be the implication in court on the other accused persons if the confessional statement of Baringa Poposky implicating them is tendered during trial and admitted?

13. Comment on the handling of the two rifles recovered by the police, the passports and the sum of money.

14. As counsel for the family of Baringa Poposky, draft an application to the Legal Aid Council requesting for legal representation of Baringa Poposky. Is he qualified to receive Legal Aid, pursuant to the Legal Aid Act?

15. As counsel for Thiago Laye, Kalito Jankari, Mutalla Boboye and Baringa Poposky prepare their bail application at the police station.

16. State and compare the procedure of obtaining confessional statements in Federal Capital Territory and Lagos.

17. Prepare and itemise the procedure for conducting a valid identification parade, prepare for and be ready to role play identification parade by the police.

18. Prepare for and be ready to role play police station interview and connect the application of the Legal Aid Scheme to it using the scenario above.

19. What are the roles of a legal practitioner in the interview in (17) above?

20. Discuss the Legal Aid Scheme generally with emphasis on matters of which the services of Legal Aid may apply.

21.  Research on and discuss the Judge’s Rule and its application in Nigeria by the Police and the effect of its non-application in a particular case in recording confessional and non-confessional statement.