The accused is appearing before this court charged with the crime of murder as defined in section 47 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23]. It being alleged that on 2 May 2023 she unlawfully caused the death of an infant Gaundencia Maria Sibanda referred to as the deceased by sitting on top of her, intending to kill her or realising that there was a real risk or possibility that her conduct may cause the death of the deceased and continued to engage in that conduct despite the risk or possibility. More
The two cases under review, illustrate once again that the tribulation of minimum mandatory sentencing will for a long time to come remain an albatross on the necks of judicial officers. No amount of criticism or demonstration of the inefficacy of minimum mandatory sentences appears to deter legislatures from prescribing the nadir of punishments which judicial officers can impose on certain types of offenders and offences. Arguments against mandatory sentencing abound. More
The accused person Cliff Churu was arrested and arraigned for the murder of his colleague and house mate Richmore Gomo. A statement of agreed facts was tendered as the counsels from both sides had plea bargained for a lesser charge of culpable homicide. The court found it proper as firstly the State is dominus litus in the sense that if its evidence cannot sustain a conviction in the main charge a plea-bargaining route may be the best course of action. More
A fourteen-year-old boy was sentenced to an effective 5-year imprisonment term. He had been convicted of rape in terms of section 64 (1) as read with section 65 (1) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act [Chapter 9:23]. It is alleged that he had raped a minor girl aged four years at the time of the commission of the offence. The minor had visited the accused’s room looking for her friend. Reportedly, accused took advantage of the child, dragged and placed her on a sofa and committed some indecent acts through her anal organ, before raping her. More
Sentencing an offender is the most difficult, touching, sensitive, emotional and delicate part of a criminal trial. It is a stage of the trial proceedings where a trial court, and even an appellate one, has a closest encounter with an accused person. A sentencing judicial officer unavoidably stands in the place of God in punishing a fellow mortal who has been confirmed to be guilty of a crime. More
This is a family tragedy of epic proportions. A father who died at the hands of his two eldest sons who on their part are likely to spend the rest of their more productive ages in prison. More
On 31 August 2012 the murder of two-year-old Tatenda Nyamurenje (the deceased) sent shockwaves within the community of Katsamudanga village in Mutoko. Not least that the child had been murdered, but that he had been murdered by his own father Farai Nyamurenje (the accused). The facts of the matter are common cause and they are that on the fateful night when the family had retired to bed, the accused returned home from a beer drink. He went to the kitchen hut where the deceased and his mother Estere Matinyanya Nyamurenje were asleep. He demanded to take his son but Estere... More
