Sudu Hakuruge Jamis and Kuda Liyanage Premaratne Perera alias Oliver vs The Attorney General – CA 204/2010-2013

In the case between Sudu Hakuruge Jamis, Kuda Liyanage Premaratne Perera alias Oliver (Accused-Appellants) and the Attorney General (Respondent), the court addressed whether the convictions and death sentences imposed for the murder of Doloswala Batahenage Kusumawathie were correct in law and adequately supported by evidence. It was held that multiple material misdirections by the trial judge—including improper assessment of the accused-appellants’ evidence, erroneous legal standards regarding alibi, and misapplication of principles governing circumstantial evidence—vitiated the convictions. The decision reaffirmed that a conviction based solely on circumstantial evidence must exclude every reasonable hypothesis except guilt, and the prosecution bears the burden of proving the case beyond