The State vs Asitha Godabedda – CN189/2010-2010

In the case between the Attorney General, Attorney General’s Department, Colombo 12 (Complainant/Respondent), and Asitha Godabedda alias Chooti alias Chutta (Accused/Accused-Appellant), the court addressed whether the conviction and death sentence for murder, based principally on four dying depositions, was justified under Section 296 read with Section 32 of the Penal Code. The court held that the conviction was unsafe due to misdirections in the evaluation of the admissibility and credibility of the dying depositions, misapplication of legal standards under Section 32(1) of the Evidence Ordinance, and omissions in considering material contradictions and circumstantial evidence which could support a theory of suicide. It was reaffirmed that dying declarations require careful scrutiny for c