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State v Soko [2008] FJHC 232; HAC143D.2007 (18 September 2008)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF FIJI
AT LAUTOKA
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

Criminal Case No: HAC 143 of 2007

STATE

v.

SAIRUSI SOKO

Hearing: 17th September 2008
Ruling: 18th September 2008

Counsel: Applicant in person
Mr. S. Vodokisolomone for State

BAIL RULING

The Applicant makes an application for bail pending trial. He is charged with six others for the robbery with violence of a jeweller’s shop of jewellery worth $123,895.00. The case was transferred to the High Court at Lautoka on the 10th of October 2007. He made a bail application before Philips J on the 12th of October. It was refused, her ladyship saying that she had no confidence that the Applicant would appear in court. She referred to the Applicant’s previous convictions for escaping from lawful custody and refused bail.

The Applicant applied again on the 25th of October 2007 before Mataitoga J. He was granted bail with reporting conditions. Bail was later varied (on the 3rd of December 2007 by Govind J) to allow him to report on Tuesdays and Fridays 8am to 8pm at Lautoka Police Station.

The case was next called on the 25th of January 2008. He failed to appear and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. He was then produced in court on the 30th of June 2008 before Govind J. He told the court that he had been in remand at Korovou from May 2008. Nevertheless he was remanded in custody. He made subsequent bail applications before Govind J, but they were refused. He now makes this application on the ground that he has been in remand for too long, prison conditions are harsh and he is not a flight risk.

The State strongly opposes bail. State counsel points to the Applicant’s history of failing to appear in court, and his previous record of escaping from lawful custody. He states that the Applicant is facing a serious charge, there is evidence of recent possession and a confession and that the prison conditions are not harsh. He relies on the affidavit of Corporal Iakobo Vaisewa, the investigating officer and of Chief Prison Officer Apimeleki Taukei of Natabua Prison. The former states in his affidavit that the Applicant failed to abide by his reporting conditions between 26th October 2007 and December 3rd 2007. The latter states that the remand prisoners at Natabua Prison have access to legal aid forms, that the Applicant is not sharing his cell with anyone else and that the conditions are suitable.

The principal consideration in a bail application is whether the Applicant will appear in court when he is ordered to do so. From information provided to me by State counsel, the Applicant was at the Korovou Remand Centre from the 18th of March 2008 until the 27th of May 2008. On the 27th of May he failed to return to the remand centre. On the 21st of August 2008 he failed to appear in the Suva Magistrates’ Court in Criminal Case 536-538/08 and a bench warrant was issued. State counsel points out that although he was in custody from the 18th of March 2008 until the 27th of May 2008, there is no explanation for his non-appearance in the Lautoka Court on the 21st of December 2007.

The court record shows that after Mataitoga J granted him bail on the 25th of October 2007, the Applicant then failed to appear on the 25th of January 2008. Clearly he failed to surrender himself to the custody of the court. His remand from the 18th of March 2008 to the 27th of May 2008 in no way explains his failure to attend court when he was not in remand, nor his failure to report at the police station.

It is clear from this chronology of events that the Applicant has failed to respect his bail conditions in the past, and that he continues to be a flight risk. The alleged robbery is a serious case and the prosecution will proceed on the basis of a confession and possession of proceeds of the robbery.

In these circumstances I am satisfied that the prosecution has rebutted the presumption in favour of bail.

Bail is refused. The case is next to be called on the 20th of October 2008 in the Lautoka High Court.

Nazhat Shameem
JUDGE

At Lautoka
18th September 2008