Justice Ramon Oshodi of an Ikeja Special Offences Court, today, dismantled the no-case application filed by a Lagos-based medical doctor, Femi Olaleye, accused of defiling his wife's niece, for lacking in merit.
The judge, therefore, directed the troubled medical practitioner to open his defence.
It would be recalled that the Lagos State Government had initiated a two counts charge against Dr Olaleye, accusing him of having unlawful sexual intercourse and did sexually assault the survivor by penetrating her mouth with his penis.
The offence, according to the prosecution, is against Sections 137 and 261 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
In his ruling on the no-case application moved by the defendant's lead counsel, Mr Olusegum Fabunmi, SAN, the judge held that he was inclined to agree with the prosecution witnesses and their testimony before the court.
The judge declared that he has studied all exhibits in detail and was constrained to consider the evidence before the court on prima facie case and the credibility of the evidence.
According to Justice Oshodi, "I have carefully listened to the submissions of both prosecution and defence. In this case, six witnesses testified for the prosecution and various exhibits were tendered in evidence.
“At this stage, I am unable to decide whether the evidence presented is believed or not. I am not to decide the credibility or the way to attack the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses. But what I am obligated to do at this stage is to decide whether something has been produced so far to prove this case worthwhile.
“The learned SAN has pointed out some evidence he considered as discrepancies in the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses. But I am afraid I am unable to give such an opinion regarding the discrepancies at this stage in a no-case context.
“I am inclined to agree with the prosecution. I do believe that the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses namely PW1 to 6 and the exhibits tendered thus far have made it worthwhile to continue the trial.
“The no-case submission is overruled and, accordingly, the defendant is hereby called upon to open his defence.”
Earlier in his argument on the no-case application dated February 21, 2023, Fabunmi, SAN, posited that the prosecution has not provided sufficient evidence against the defendant to warrant him to enter a defence, adding that the evidence of the prosecution was not sufficient to convict the defendant.
The SAN further argued that there was no time the defendant was caught committing the alleged offence.
In his words: “The defendant even denied committing the offence. There was no prima facie case linking the defendant to the offence.
Fabunmi, SAN, prayed to Justice Oshodi to grant the application and dismiss the case against the defendant.
In responding to the SAN, counsel for the prosecution, Dr Babajide Martins submitted that the prosecution has called six witnesses including the survivor to testify in the case.
Dr Martins equally stated that the prosecution tendered 21 exhibits to prove his case against the defendant.
While arguing that there was no doubt about the identity of the defendant as the survivor gave an account of how she was asked to suck the defendant’s penis, Dr Martins maintained that “The issue that PW2 does not know when the incident happened does not arise.
“The testimony of the under-aged girl (survivor) corroborated what the prosecution accused the defendant of.
“We have alleged defilement by penetration, tender exhibits, as well as documentary evidence.”
Dr Matins prayed the court to dismiss the defendant's application and ask him to open his defence.
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