Five accused persons in Dr Victoria Mutiso murder case at the dock/JAMES GICHIGI Lawyers Danstan Omari and Cliff Ombeta have been allowed to withdraw from representing three accused persons in the murder case of Dr Victoria Mutiso.
Justice Alexander Muteti allowed the two lawyers, alongside other lawyers, to cease acting for Rose Mbithe Mulwa, her son Chris Mulwa and daughter Angela Mulwa when the case came before him on Tuesday.
The three were jointly charged with the murder of Dr Mutiso alongside Police Constable Elijah Kimoi and Maritim Kimutai, who are the fourth and fifth accused persons respectively.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the murder charges after the charges were read to them by the judge.
The prosecution opposed the accused persons' bail applications and requested additional time to respond.
State counsel Jalson Makori told the court that the prosecution needed time to respond to issues raised by the defence, including a letter the State said it had received concerning a complaint against investigators.
Before the bail applications could be argued, the court dealt with the issue of legal representation for the first three accused.
The lawyers indicated that they no longer wished to represent Rose, Chris and Angela, prompting the court to consider whether they should be allowed to withdraw.
The accused persons did not object to the withdrawal of the lawyers.
One of the accused, Rose, told the court that there were matters they needed to clarify with their legal team, including information and evidence that had not yet been discussed with their advocates.
The court was told that the lawyers had not been able to meet the accused persons in remand to discuss some of the issues they considered important to their case.
In response, the accused indicated that they had no objection to the advocates withdrawing from the proceedings.
The court heard that the accused persons could not be forced to retain lawyers who no longer wished to represent them.
“It’s your right. You know you are the accused person in this matter, and whatever you think is in your best interest as an accused person must be taken into account,” the judge told one of the accused, Rose.
He subsequently allowed the lawyers to withdraw from representing the three accused persons.
The court also heard allegations relating to the treatment of the accused while in detention, with the defence raising claims of torture during their period in custody.
The accused also sought to raise issues concerning documents, identification cards and passports that they said were taken from a house during an eviction.
The court, however, directed that such matters could be addressed during the hearing through the relevant witnesses and evidence.
“You will have all the time in this court to put all those issues to the witnesses when we come here,” Justice Muteti said.
The judge thereafter issued directions on the pending bail applications.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was given three days to file and serve an affidavit responding to the bail application.
The advocates representing the three accused persons, once they secure new representation, as well as counsel for the fourth and fifth accused, were allowed to file supplementary affidavits.
The bail applications will therefore be considered after the prosecution has filed its response.
The fifth accused, Maritim Kimutai, and the fourth accused, Police Constable Elijah Kimoi, are represented separately in the proceedings.
Kimoi is alleged by the prosecution to have fired the fatal shot.
The five accused persons are jointly facing murder charges and have denied the allegations.
