JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
1. Daniel Mbithuka Muia, the appellant, was charged and convicted of defilement of a girl aged between 12 and15 years contrary to section 8(3) of the Sexual Offences Act. The offence was said to have been committed on 27th September 2010 in Makueni County. The girl who was defiled, EMM, was 13 years old.
2. The trial court convicted the appellant and sentenced him to 25 years’ imprisonment. Being aggrieved by the said conviction and sentence, the appellant preferred an appeal to the High Court. The High Court upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence to 20 years’ imprisonment.
3. Undeterred, the appellant preferred a second appeal to this Court. In his supplementary grounds of appeal, the appellant, who was unrepresented, faulted the learned judge for: upholding his conviction on a defective charge; transferring the onus of proof to him; upholding the conviction in the absence of sufficient evidence of identification; and for upholding the conviction, which he …