Court orders fresh trial in sodomy case

The High Court in Meru has ordered fresh hearing of a case where three inmates had been sentenced to a 15-year in prison for sodomy.

Justice Alfred Mabeya said chief magistrate Hannah Ndung’u did not accord the accused, Mr Geoffrey Mutethia, Mr Dickson Murangiri and Mr Boniface Kimathi, a fair hearing.

He said it was not clear whether the court supplied the three with witness statements to help them prepare their defence, and that most of the witnesses testified in the absence of the defence lawyer.

The three had in September last year been found guilty of sodomising a 17-year-old who was locked up at the  Meru Police Station on March 23, 2017.

MOLESTED IN TURNS

During the hearing, the court heard how the three lured the boy to the toilet and molested him in turns, threatening to kill him if he raised the alarm.

On the night of the incident, the boy was being held on allegation of assault.

Mr Murangiri and Mr Kimathi are serving a 20-year jail term after being found guilty of killing Julius Mungathia, a crime they committed in 2012, at Maibuki village in Igembe North.

Five witnesses lined up by the prosecution placed the three at the scene of crime and proved that the boy had been defiled.

Dr Stephen Chege, a doctor based at Meru Level Five Hospital who treated the boy after the incident, told the court that the minor had a bruised neck and injuries in his private parts.

NO RECORD

The trio, aggrieved by the sentence, appealed claiming they were not accorded a fair hearing. They claimed that the identification parade was faulty and that the prosecution did not prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.

The State also failed to file its submission, allowing the appellants’ submissions to go unchallenged.

Justice Mabeya agreed with the appellants that during the hearing, they had asked to be supplied with witness statements but there was no record to show they had received them.

He also noted that lawyer Jacqueline Nelima, did not appear when three crucial witnesses testified, and the magistrate’s judgment did not indicate why she was absent.

“Every accused person has a right to a fair trial… In the view of the foregoing, I am of the view that the trial court fell into error by proceeding as it did. The criticism against it on the ground of failure to conduct a fair hearing is not without merit. On this alone, the trial cannot stand. The conviction and sentence is set aside,” ruled Justice Mabeya and ordered a fresh trial.