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The murder trial of lawyer Abel Mogaka concluded at the High Court in Eldoret on Tuesday, exactly seven years since his colleague Calvin Ngaira was stabbed to death during a house party.
The case came to its conclusion on May 18, just a day after the incident which occurred on May 19, 2019.
A total of 14 witnesses including two for the defence testified in the case that was heard by Justice Robert Wananda.
“Finally, we have come to the end of this case and I thank everyone including the lawyers, the accused and even the audience that gave us company throughout,” Wananda said at the close of the hearing.
The matter was set for mention on July 29 for final submissions and setting of a judgment date.
Mogaka is represented by lawyer
Evans Miyienda.
During his testimony, Mogaka
admitted that he fought with the deceased after a disagreement over a bottle of
beer during the party attended by fellow lawyers.
He told the court the argument
escalated into a physical confrontation that turned fatal when Ngaira collapsed
moments later.
He however denied allegations
that he was armed with a sharp object or a broken beer bottle which prosecutors
claim was used to stab the deceased.
During cross-examination, Mogaka acknowledged that CCTV footage showed him and another man confronting
Ngaira during the scuffle.
“As per the CCTV footage, it’s two
people seen beating the deceased and that is me and the other man who is
armed,” he said.
He maintained that he had restrained
himself for a long time before the confrontation intensified.
“I used my left hand to fight back
but I missed hitting him and my hand landed on his T-shirt on the lower part of
his body,” he said.
Mogaka also disputed claims that an
object visible in his hand in the CCTV footage was a broken bottle.
“I remember I was not holding
anything but if I had anything then it was my phone,” he said.
At one point during the proceedings,
Mogaka objected to being referred to as “counsel”, insisting he was appearing
before court as an individual and not in his professional capacity as a lawyer.
“Just refer to me by my name and not
by my profession,” he said.
Justice Wananda last year put Mogaka to his defence after ruling he had a case to answer.
The accused is alleged to have
stabbed Ngaira in the neck with a broken beer bottle during a party in the
Annex area of Eldoret.
Ngaira later died while being rushed
to hospital.
While placing Mogaka on his defence,
Justice Wananda clarified that the ruling did not amount to a finding of guilt,
but that evidence presented before the court linked the accused to the circumstances
surrounding the death.
“I find that there is some evidence
in connection with the manner in which the death occurred and he therefore has
a case to answer,” the judge ruled.
Witnesses during the trial told the
court that the confrontation began with a dispute over a bottle of beer during
a party hosted by another lawyer at an apartment along the Eldoret-Nakuru
highway.
CCTV footage formed a central part
of the prosecution’s evidence, with investigating officer Sofia Hassan of the
Directorate of Criminal Investigations presenting 13 clips from four cameras
showing events before and during the fatal fight.
Hassan told the court the
disagreement over the beer triggered a confrontation that later spilled outside
the house.
“It’s the exchange over the beer that led to a fight that turned ugly, extending outside the house where the stabbing occurred,” she testified.
Mogaka, however, challenged the CCTV evidence, claiming the footage shown in court had been selectively edited to favour the prosecution.
“They should have played the entire
footage showing all that happened during the incident. The selective clips
played in court are an attempt to complicate my defence,” he said.
The accused insisted Ngaira was the
aggressor and claimed the deceased attacked him first with a bottle, causing
injuries to his head and hands.
“Your honour, looking at the video
clips, I am the one being attacked and forced to run away. He started the whole
issue and I was even trying to leave when he suddenly attacked me outside the
house where we were,” Mogaka said.
He further claimed several people
assaulted Ngaira during attempts to separate them.
“I did not have any weapon in my
hands which I could have used to attack the deceased,” he told the court.
Mogaka also said he had never met
Ngaira before the party and that the disagreement started after the deceased
allegedly snatched a beer that had been handed to him by the host after
contributing money towards drinks.
Ngaira died while undergoing
treatment.
Among exhibits produced in court
were a blood-stained black-and-white T-shirt belonging to the deceased and
broken pieces of glass recovered after the incident.
Mogaka has denied the murder charge
and remains out on bond pending judgment.
