Litia Cava 
The Labasa High Court has acquitted Viliame Bitu of arson.
The Labasa High Court has acquitted Viliame Bitu of arson.
The judge found the prosecution’s identification evidence was too weak to put him on trial.
High Court judge Justice Lee Burney ruled that the sole prosecution witness, Bitu’s uncle provided poor and unsupported identification testimony.
Burney noted that the witness saw the accused from around 50 to 80 metres away while the accused was partly obscured by a wide-brimmed hat and that the alleged act of lighting the fire took only a second.
In applying the Turnbull guidelines on disputed identification, Justice Burney said the evidence was unreliable.
He added that the prosecution must assess whether the available evidence would more likely than not result in a conviction before proceeding to trial.
Burney stressed that prosecutions should not be pursued in the hope that evidence will appear stronger during trial.
He states the Director of Public Prosecutions must determine whether there is sufficient credible evidence and whether it is in the public interest to prosecute.
The judge also observed that mistakes in identifying close relatives are not uncommon and that the material provided to the prosecution did not address key factors affecting the reliability of identification.
Justice Burney concluded that, based on the law and the evidence presented, Bitu had no case to answer and was acquitted.
Parties have 30 days to appeal the ruling to the Court of Appeal.
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