State v Lisa [2018] PGNC 309; N7406 (9 August 2018)

N7406

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
[IN THE NATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE]

CR NO. 744 OF 2016

STATE

V

FREDDIE LISA

Waigani: Manuhu, J.
2018: 15, 22 May & 9 August

CRIMINAL LAW – Particular offence – Wilful Murder – Police Shooting after a car chase – Undisputed evidence.

No case cited.

Counsel:

D. Kuvi, for the State
C. Kup-Ogut, for the Accused

9^th August, 2018

1. MANUHU J: The accused, Freddie Lisa, was indicted on one count of wilful murder on the basis of an allegation that he on 21^st November 2013 at Six Mile, in the National Capital District, wilfully murdered one Martin Pauls.
   
2. The facts are virtually undisputed after the accused chose to remain silent. The accused, a police officer, was part of a motorised police patrol unit that operated out of Gordons Police Station. They chased the deceased who was driving a taxi before the fatal shooting which gave rise to the charge.
   
3. On the evidence, the accused and his fellow officers were travelling in a Toyota 10 Seater, a marked police vehicle. At the main Erima/Wildlife roundabout, the deceased who had picked up three passengers at JMart signalled left and then right after the passengers changed their minds and directed him to return to JMart. The police unit who were at the back of the taxi became suspicious and followed the taxi. Realising that police were following, the deceased sped off.
   
4. There were only two firearms in the police vehicle. One was an automatic rifle. One was a pump action shotgun. The accused was armed with the pump action shotgun.
   
5. During the chase, several warning shots were fired by police between the Funeral Home at Erima and Gateway Hotel. Eventually, one of the taxi’s wheels was shot in front of the hotel and the taxi came to a stop with its left side in a drain at the corner of the hotel’s residential compound. The police vehicle then drove up and stopped parallel to the taxi at a distance of about one and a half metres. As I said, the right side of the taxi was on the road. The left side was in the drain. The taxi was thus tilted sideways.
   
6. It was not disputed that at that point in time, two firearms were discharged. One was an AR 15 – A2 Bushmaster automatic rifle. It was discharged by the police officer who was seated in the left front seat at the taxi. It is not disputed that the accused discharged the pump action shotgun at the taxi as well. He was seated at the back of the police vehicle when he fired at the taxi. The deceased died from gunshot wounds on the head and neck. The passengers did not receive any fatal injury.
   
7. Chief Sergeant Numbos gave evidence for the prosecution. He had been in the Police Force for more than 31 years. He attended a one year “Crime Scene Examination Course” at the State Forensic Science Laboratory in Melbourne Australia. The course involves specialised crime scene techniques, general crime scene procedures and specialised theory and practice for particular offences which involved comparison of tool mark, footwear and tire marks. The course also involved restoration of obliterated serial numbers of firearms, identification of firearms and comparison of fired bullets and cartridge cases.
   
8. The officer also attended a forensic digital photography course conducted by Australian Federal Police in Port Moresby in 2010. He also attended a Crime Scene and Evidence Management Course in Fiji.
   
9. The witness has attended numerous scenes of homicides, rapes, shootings, arsons and armed robberies and have appeared before the courts on numerous occasions. He attended the scene of the alleged shooting on Thursday 21^st November 2013 at about 8:17PM. The alleged shooting took place between 6:00 and 7:00PM on the same day.
   
10. Chief Sergeant Numbos examined the bullet holes on the taxi. There were direct bullet holes on the driver’s door that is consistent with the uncontested evidence that both vehicles were parallel and the automatic rifle was fired from the offsider of the police vehicle. It was also found that there were bullet holes which penetrated the car at an angle from the back side towards the front end of the taxi. The only conclusion is that these bullet holes were caused by projectiles from the firearm that was in the possession of the accused at the back of the police vehicle.
    
11. Chief Sergeant Joseph Numbos retrieved a homemade pistol in the hand of the deceased in the driver’s seat. He later tested the homemade weapon and concluded that no cartridge or bullet could fit into the weapon and it had not been fired.
    
12. In his opinion, the homemade weapon was placed in the hand of the deceased before he arrived at the scene in an attempt to shift the blame onto the deceased. His opinion is consistent with a passenger’s oral evidence that the deceased did not hold onto any weapon immediately before the shooting. It is difficult to comprehend the deceased attempting to use a useless and harmless homemade equipment when he would have been well aware that the pursuing police unit were armed with high powered rifles. The Court accepts the passenger’s testimony that the deceased was not armed at the relevant time. In any case, there is no evidence that the deceased shot himself in the head and neck.
    
13. The exclusion of the homemade pistol means that the only firearms that were fired at the taxi were the Bushmaster automatic rifle and the pump action shotgun.
    
14. Chief Sergeant Numbos was present during the autopsy. Two projectiles were removed from the head and neck. From the head was a 5.56mm jacketing which is usually fired from a 5.56mm chambered weapon, which includes M16 or AR 15 A2 automatic weapon. The Court is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the fragmented projectile was discharged from the automatic weapon that was discharged by the police officer who was seated in the front left seat of the police vehicle.
    
15. From the neck was a lead pellet, typically fired from a pump action shotgun. This evidence is not disputed. The accused did not deny that he had a pump action shotgun and he also fired at the taxi. The Court is accordingly satisfied that the lead pellet originated from the pump action shotgun that was discharged by the accused.
    
16. According to medical evidence, a lacerated bullet wound was found on the scalp and a bullet wound from the right to the left cerebral lobes of the brain. These were the head injuries. As to the neck, among other associated injuries, the neck vessel, namely the jugular vessel or vein and the wind pipe were severed. Clearly, there were very serious and life threatening injuries to the neck and head. The autopsy report concluded that gunshot wounds to the head and neck were the causes of death of the deceased.
    
17. It was submitted by counsel for the accused that it was not clear whether the projectiles were found in the wounds or outside the body. This submission is baseless. It is clear from Chief Sergeant’s evidence and the autopsy report that the projectiles were found in the wounds on the head and neck.
    
18. The Court is ultimately satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the injuries to the neck was a cause of the death of the deceased. The discovery of a lead pellet clearly links the pellet to the pump action rifle that was discharged by the accused.
    
19. The deceased was shot at a very close range when he was still seated in the taxi. He tried to escape from the police but when the taxi was forced to stop, he was a virtual sitting duck when he was shot at point blank range with an automatic weapon and a pump action shotgun. The nature of injuries clearly shows strong intent to kill.
    
20. In all the circumstances, I find the accused guilty as charged.
    

_______________________________________________________________
Public Prosecutor: Lawyer for the State
Public Solicitor: Lawyer for the Accused