Supreme Court overturns six-year-old conviction

AS slowly as the wheels of justice may turn, they can still – eventually – bring relief to someone feeling he has been wronged, it was shown in the Supreme Court yesterday, when a more than six-year-old murder conviction and fifteen-year prison term were overturned on appeal.

Cyril Koopman was just over 21 years old when he and a group of friends became involved in what turned out to be a fatal fight and armed robbery in Khomasdal in Windhoek on the evening of September 26 1996. By the end of that incident, a 41-year-old bricklayer, Piet Beukes, lay dead with a knife in his chest.The modest pay packages that he and a colleague, Neville Campbell, had received for a month’s work earlier that day, had been robbed from them.On November 16 1998, Koopman and four other young men, who had been prosecuted on charges of murder and two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, stood before Judge Mavis Gibson in the High Court in Windhoek.Koopman, then aged 23, and three of his co-accused had been convicted of murder and two charges of aggravated robbery.Another co-accused, the 27-year-old Henry Matthys, had been found guilty on the two robbery charges only.Judge Gibson sentenced all of them to nine years’ imprisonment for the robberies.Koopman and the three other men convicted of murder were sentenced to an additional fifteen-year jail term on that charge.The sentences were ordered to run together, which meant that they would spend an effective 15 years in prison.But yesterday, Koopman, who is now 30 years old, received a major change of fortune in the Supreme Court.In a judgement by Chief Justice Peter Shivute, the Chief Justice and former Acting Chief Justice Johan Strydom agreed that Koopman had been wrongly convicted of murder and set aside the 15-year prison sentence.Suddenly, Koopman was six years closer to his release date.Judge Gibson’s conviction of Koopman on the murder charge was to a major extent based on the legal doctrine of common purpose.Under the common purpose doctrine, everyone in a group of people can be held equally accountable for a criminal act that one of the persons had committed as part of a plan that the group had jointly agreed on, or if the other persons in the group had associated themselves with the actual active perpetrator’s actions.However, the Supreme Court has now decided, there was no evidence before Judge Gibson to show that Koopman knew that when Campbell and Beukes were attacked, one of the group of attackers, Gerome Philander, had a knife with him and was going to stab Beukes with it.Chief Justice Shivute recounted that Koopman had specifically mentioned to the police that he was involved in an altercation with Campbell.For all the court knew, he added, Koopman may not have been involved in the assault on Beukes and may not have associated himself with the assault, seeing that he appeared to have been preoccupied with Campbell during the fight.The Chief Justice concluded that it had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt that Koopman associated himself with the conduct of the perpetrators of the assault on Beukes.Neither had it been shown that Koopman had an intention to kill Beukes, the Supreme Court agreed.Koopman’s conviction on the charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances, and the nine-year jail term he received for that, were left unchanged.Winnie Christians argued Koopman’s appeal in the Supreme Court in July last year.Deputy Prosecutor-General Danie Small represented the State.By the end of that incident, a 41-year-old bricklayer, Piet Beukes, lay dead with a knife in his chest.The modest pay packages that he and a colleague, Neville Campbell, had received for a month’s work earlier that day, had been robbed from them.On November 16 1998, Koopman and four other young men, who had been prosecuted on charges of murder and two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, stood before Judge Mavis Gibson in the High Court in Windhoek.Koopman, then aged 23, and three of his co-accused had been convicted of murder and two charges of aggravated robbery.Another co-accused, the 27-year-old Henry Matthys, had been found guilty on the two robbery charges only. Judge Gibson sentenced all of them to nine years’ imprisonment for the robberies.Koopman and the three other men convicted of murder were sentenced to an additional fifteen-year jail term on that charge.The sentences were ordered to run together, which meant that they would spend an effective 15 years in prison.But yesterday, Koopman, who is now 30 years old, received a major change of fortune in the Supreme Court.In a judgement by Chief Justice Peter Shivute, the Chief Justice and former Acting Chief Justice Johan Strydom agreed that Koopman had been wrongly convicted of murder and set aside the 15-year prison sentence.Suddenly, Koopman was six years closer to his release date.Judge Gibson’s conviction of Koopman on the murder charge was to a major extent based on the legal doctrine of common purpose.Under the common purpose doctrine, everyone in a group of people can be held equally accountable for a criminal act that one of the persons had committed as part of a plan that the group had jointly agreed on, or if the other persons in the group had associated themselves with the actual active perpetrator’s actions.However, the Supreme Court has now decided, there was no evidence before Judge Gibson to show that Koopman knew that when Campbell and Beukes were attacked, one of the group of attackers, Gerome Philander, had a knife with him and was going to stab Beukes with it.Chief Justice Shivute recounted that Koopman had specifically mentioned to the police that he was involved in an altercation with Campbell.For all the court knew, he added, Koopman may not have been involved in the assault on Beukes and may not have associated himself with the assault, seeing that he appeared to have been preoccupied with Campbell during the fight.The Chief Justice concluded that it had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt that Koopman associated himself with the conduct of the perpetrators of the assault on Beukes.Neither had it been shown that Koopman had an intention to kill Beukes, the Supreme Court agreed.Koopman’s conviction on the charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances, and the nine-year jail term he received for that, were left unchanged.Winnie Christians argued Koopman’s appeal in the Supreme Court in July last year.Deputy Prosecutor-General Danie Small represented the State.