If you are last seen with a person before the person turns up dead in a circumstance looking like murder, you will be presumed to be the killer of that person. This is known as the doctrine of last seen. This doctrine of last seen, in basic terms, simply means that the law presumes that the person who was last seen with a deceased individual bears full responsibility for their death.
In the case of Madu v State, (2012) LPELR-7867(SC) the Supreme Court declared that this doctrine is indeed of global application, that is to say that this doctrine is applied in most criminal jurisdictions around the world. The apex court stated that in some other jurisdictions, it is called “the last seen theory”. In support of this, the Supreme Court cited an Indian case where the Indian Supreme Court applied and upheld this principle. The Indian case is the case of Rajesh Khanna Vs. State of A.P (2006) 10 SCC 172, where the Indian Supreme Court noted as follows: “The last seen theory, comes into play when the time gap between the point of time when the accused and the deceased were last seen alive and the deceased is found dead is so small that possibility of any person other than the accused being the author of the crime becomes impossible”.
In the case of NJOKU V. STATE (2012) LPELR-20608(SC), the Supreme Court held that this principle of last seen is usually invoked where there is no explanation as to what happened to or caused the death of a deceased who was last seen in the company of the accused except the accused explains to the satisfaction of the Court as to what really happened or caused the death of the said deceased.
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It is noteworthy that the criminal justice system and the evidence act have placed the duty to prove the guilt of an accused beyond a reasonable doubt on the prosecution, so even as this principle of last seen has been judicially noted and serially applied by the court in a plethora of cases, the prosecution still has it as a magnanimous duty to prove before the court that the accused who was last seen in the company of the deceased indeed caused the death of the deceased. When the prosecution has successfully executed this duty of proving beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of the accused, the onus is then shifted to the accused to satisfactorily explain to the court what happened to the deceased or for him to prove his innocence.
The accused who was last seen at the company of the deceased proving his innocence was the position of the court of appeal in the case of Madu v state (2000) LPELR-9875(CA) when his Lordship, IBRAHIM TANKO MUHAMMAD, JCA stated thus, “…If the prosecution proves the commission of a crime beyond reasonable doubt, the burden of proving reasonable doubt is shifted on to the accused.”
In summary, the doctrine of the last seen or the last seen theory only raises the presumption (although rebuttable) that the last person who was in the company of the deceased caused the death of the deceased and/or if he did not cause the death of the deceased will have a solid explanation as to what caused the death of the deceased.
