David Brimoli Moses vs Hon. Attorney General – CA HCC/0190/2019-2022

In Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka v. David Brimoli Moses, the court examined whether the High Court erroneously placed an additional burden of proof upon the accused, contrary to fundamental criminal law principles. The appellate review established that the trial judge’s approach—criticizing the accused for not calling his wife as a witness and claiming the defence was not put to prosecution witnesses—constituted substantial misdirection. The findings underscored that these errors infringed upon the accused’s right to be presumed innocent and resulted in a miscarriage of justice, referencing relevant constitutional guarantees. The court held that neither the curative proviso nor an order for retrial was warranted under the circumstances. The conviction and sentence were therefo