The trial of the accused commenced on 9 November, 2016 and the state case was only closed on 27 June 2019. The reason for this long delay has been the unavailability of a key state witness Dr.SanganaiPesenai. The state indicated that Dr SanganaiPesenai was unwell and could not travel to Masvingo from Bulawayo. He only availed himself on 27 June, 2019 after which the state case was closed. An application for the discharge of the accused was then made on the same day. Due to this prolonged delay we proceeded to give an extempore ruling on the application on the... More
This case is an epitome of a poorly investigated case. As a result the trial became tedious as it was characterised by irrelevant State witnesses. The incident in this case occurred in bar in which there were about 25 local people but the Investigating Officer could not record any statement from all these witnesses save from the barman who had not actually seen what happened. To make matters worse this Investigating Officer one Sgt. Ngonidzashe Nhukarume seemed clueless of what was expected of him in such a serious case and ended up conceding in court that he was giving misleading... More
The tragic events in this matter are rather saddening.
The 29 year old accused who hails from Matya Village, Chief Murinye, Masvingo tragically caused the death of his 69 year old father on 12th June, 2019.
Initially the accused was charged of murder as defined in s 47(1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Cap 9:23]. However the state and the accused’s pro deo counsel found each other and agreed that the proper charge is contravening section 49 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Cap 9:23] which relates to culpable homicide. The matter therefore proceeded on... More
The accused was arraigned before this court on a charge of murder as defined in s 47(1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23]. More
This matter is a cocktail of legal disaster to put it mildly. It is clearly a matter which was poorly investigated, ineptly prosecuted and defended and finally thoroughly bungled by the trial Magistrate. Even Mr Zvekare for the National Prosecuting Authority to whom I referred the matter for his views had uncomplimentary comments for the police, the trial prosecutor, accused’s legal practitioners and the trial Magistrate. My sense of justice was greatly offended by how this matter was handled. More
This review judgment has been necessitated by the learned trial Magistrate’s apparent failure to embrace the modern day sentencing principles in our criminal justice system. These general principles are well articulated by NDOU J in the case of S v Shariwa 2003 (1) ZLR 314 (H). More
This matter mirrors what has gone wrong in our society.
It is taboo in our culture for a child to lay a hand on his or her parents. The accused’s conduct in this matter does not only fall foul of the sixth commandment which says; “thou shall not murder” but mostly importantly the fifth commandment which says; “honour your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your GOD is giving you.” More
The accused who resides in Village 25, Chief Sengwe, Chiredzi is facing two counts.
In count 1 the accused is facing the charge of murder as defined in s 47(1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Cap 9:23] in that on 18 June 2015 at Gonowani Village, Headman Mpapa, Chiredzi the accused stabbed the now deceased Stephen Chikucha with an unknown sharp object in the chest causing his death.
In count 2 which relates to attempted murder defined in s 189 as read with s 47(1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, [Cap 9:23] it is... More
The applicant (hereinafter the accused) made an application in terms of s 198(3) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act [Cap 9:07] for a discharge at the close of the prosecution case. More
The accused was arraigned before us to answer to a charge of murder as defined in s 47 (1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Cap 9:23]. The charge is that on 1 April, 2018 at Nduna Village, Headman Madzivire, Chivi, Masvingo the accused unlawfully and with intent kill shot his wife Lucia Sumaili with a pistol in the head thereby causing her death. More
This is another matter which this court is seized with in which a life was lost after both accused and the now deceased had partaken a popular but lethal brew in this part of the country called traditional marula beer or mukumbi beer. The alcohol content of this type of beer is yet to be established but I take judicial notice from various cases presented before me that indeed it is a lethal brew if consumed in copious quantities. More
The accused who is facing a charge of murder as defined in s 47 (1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Cap 9:23] offered a limited plea to the lesser charge of culpable homicide as defined in s 49 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Cap 9:23]. The state declined to accept the limited plea. More
The facts in this case are largely common cause.
The accused is facing a charge of murder as defined in S 47 (1) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act [Cap 9:23] More
The 22-year-old accused and the 33-year-old now deceased were persons well known to each other very well. They hailed from the same area together with accused’s alleged accomplice one Goddie Zvenyika (Goddie) and the now deceased’s friend Calton Zhou. Another common feature amongst them is that at the material time they were all gold panners, otherwise dignified as artisanal miners. They were all carrying out this activity at the seemingly very controversial and cursed mine called Lennox Mine in Mashava. This is so because we take judicial notice of the number of criminal and civil disputes emanating from this Lennox... More
