Lawyer Assa Nyakundi murder charge is to wait a bit longer after the Magistrate’s Court declined to withdraw manslaughter charge against him.
This is a big blow to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who wanted to charge the lawyer with murdering his son.
In a ruling delivered by Senior Principal Magistrate T B Nyangena on Wednesday, the court said that the powers of DPP to discontinue criminal proceedings are not absolute and the application was founded on weak grounds.
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DPP made the application to withdraw the charges, saying that they had found new evidence to support the charge of murder.
The DPP wanted the Magistrate’s Court to withdraw the manslaughter charge so that the lawyer can be charged with the capital offence of murder.
Earlier, the public prosecutor had asked the court to disqualify itself in the matter, an application which was dismissed by the same court.
Through, Catherine Mwaniki, the DPP made an application at the High Court to stay the proceedings of the Magistrate’s Court, a request that was dismissed by Justice Jessie Lesiit.
Further, during Wednesday’s ruling, the Magistrate’s Court said new evidence cannot be a ground to discontinue criminal proceedings.
"Failure to disclose evidence and acting as though he's prosecuting the matter in the media portrays malice, ill-faith and abuse of the court process," said the magistrate.
The magistrate further accused DPP of not appearing keen in upholding the rule of law, the accused’s rights, public interest and strengthening of criminal justice.
Further, the magistrate also accused the prosecutor, of failing to disclose the new evidence saying it was in the public interest.
