1. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - BREACH OF RIGHT TO FAIR HEARING: Whether a party
can allege breach of fair hearing after presenting his case
"In the instant case, the appellant had every opportunity to defend himself and
full control of his own defence after he was abandoned by his counsel. It is the
duty of defending counsel in a criminal trial to ensure that an accused person is
never left unrepresented at any stage of his trial. See OKONOFUA & ANOR v.
STATE (1981) LPELR- 2489. Neither the prosecuting counsel nor the defending
counsel should be absent in Court without a good and substantial reason and
without the courtesy of informing the Court in writing. When Mr. A.S. Enyi
recklessly abandoned his professional duty both to the Court and the appellant,
the appellant took his own destiny into his own hand. He did not seek an
adjournment at any time due to the absence of his counsel or request for an
opportunity to engage another counsel. Having utilized every opportunity
available to him by cross-examining the prosecution witnesses and giving
evidence in his own defence, he absolutely has no reason to contend that he was
denied fair hearing. Raking up allegation of lack of fair hearing is not a magic
wand that cures every ailment of a litigant or an accused person. The contention
of the appellant that he was denied fair hearing is an abuse of that principle." Per
BOLAJI-YUSUFF, J.C.A. (Pp. 36-37, Paras. E-C) (...read in context)
2. EVIDENCE - CONFESSIONAL STATEMENT: Tests for determining the truth or
weight to attach to a confessional statement before a court can convict on same