High Court Judge Isaac Muwata has ordered the prosecution in the murder case of the late businessman Henry Katanga to give raw evidence to the lawyers of the five accused persons.
The ruling came after defense lawyers asked the court to discontinue the testimony of Enock Kanene, a cyber crimes expert from the police, on grounds that he lacked a court order, permitting him to extract evidence from the phones of the suspects, as well as the CCTV footage, which was obtained from the home of the deceased.
In a crucial ruling delivered on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, Judge Muwata emphasized the prosecution’s duty to disclose all relevant materials, including raw data, video evidence, witness statements, and scientific materials, to ensure a fair hearing.
“The prosecution is reminded of their duty to disclose all relevant materials, including raw data and video evidence, to the defense,” Judge Muwata ruled. “Disclosures must be strictly observed for fair hearing purposes. Prosecutions are under a duty to disclose all relevant scientific material whether it strengthens or weakens their case and whether the defense made a request or not.”
The court’s ruling requires the DPP to provide the raw data extracted from the gadgets, which includes information from the CCTV footage and mobile phones taken from Katanga’s Mbuya home. This material is considered crucial for the defense to challenge the evidence presented by the prosecution and ensure a fair trial for the accused.
The prosecution’s legal team, led by Assistant DPP Samali Wakooli, acknowledged the court’s order but indicated that it would take several hours to extract and compile the data from the gadgets. “We estimate that the extraction process will take approximately six hours, and we will need storage space capable of holding up to 4 terabytes of data,” said Jonathan Muwaganya, one of the prosecution’s lawyers.
The defense, represented by Counsel Peter Kabatsi and others, questioned the practicality of meeting the court’s deadline. Kabatsi raised concerns that, given the complexity of the task, they would need additional time to review the data before proceeding. “We will require a full day to assess the raw data once it’s provided,” he noted.
Justice Muwata responded by confirming the importance of adhering to the disclosure order, but agreed to give the prosecution until Thursday to present the data. “If the raw data is not available by then, we will adjourn the proceedings further,” the judge warned.
The matter has been adjourned to November 12, 2024.