Pastor James Ng’ang’a in court on August 20, 2015. One of Ng'ang'a's co-accused, has applied for adjournment so that his lawyer can familiarise himself with the case in what the prosecutor termed a delay ploy. PHOTO | GERALD ANDERSON | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Five of the witness are under a witness protection programme and will give their evidence at the Limuru Law Courts on Wednesday in camera
The prosecution, led by State counsels Alloys Kemo and Catherine Mwaniki, obtained a court order from the Milimani Law Courts to allow the identities of five witnesses to remain hidden.
Pastor Ng’ang’a, of the Neno Evangelism Centre, has been charged alongside three others with the death of Ms Mercy Njeri who died in a road crash in Manguo, Limuru, on July 26.
According to the charge sheet, Pastor Ng’ang’a, in a Range Rover vehicle with registration number KCD 060Q, drove dangerously, disregarding all the circumstances, including the condition of the road and the amount of traffic and caused the death of Ms Njeri and was freed on a Sh1 million bond.
Ms Njeri’s husband, Mr Martin Mbugua Ndung’u, survived with multiple injuries.
Mr Ng’ang’a has also been charged that on August 6, at the Traffic headquarters in Ruaraka, Nairobi, he lied to SSP Julius Wanjohi that he was not the driver of the Range Rover, therefore stopping the officer from taking action against him.
The preacher is also charged with failing to report an accident at a nearby police station within 24 hours and driving a vehicle without insurance and an alternative change of not displaying the insurance.
Government pathologist Peter Ndegwa, who conducted an autopsy on Ms Njeri, gave his evidence on Tuesday, when the case kicked off.
ORGAN INJURIES
Dr Ndegwa told the court that a post-mortem exam that he carried out on July 30 showed that Ms Njeri died of multiple organ injuries that were consistent with a motor vehicle accident.
The results, he said, indicated that she had injuries in the left shoulder, face and chest, and her thigh bones were fractured and had a compound of fracture dislocation in the left knee joint.
She also had internal bruises on the chest wall, the right lung and the right part of the chest, and her liver had ruptured as a result of the accident.
Mr Ng’ang’a’s co-accused, Mr Christopher Nzilu and Mr Patrick Baya, who are police officers, and Mr Simon Kuria, who is accused of aiding an attempted cover-up, were freed on a Sh100,000 bond each or a cash bail of Sh50,000 each.
Mr Baya, the Tigoni Traffic Police Commandant, and Mr Nzilu of the Kenya Police Air Wing division, were charged with neglecting their duties on July 26 by failing to conduct proper investigations into the accident.
The latter was further accused of concealing the identity and whereabouts of Pastor Ng’ang’a, who he knew was driving the vehicle.
Mr Kuria has been charged with covering up for the pastor, but he denied conspiring to defeat justice and giving false information.
Limuru Senior Principal Magistrate Godfrey Oduor objected to an application by Pastor Ng’ang’a and Mr Nzilu to have the matter adjourned since some lawyers were absent.
Through his lawyer, Mr Assa Nyakundi, Mr Ng’ang’a said he wanted his two lawyers present in court but one of them, Mr Kioko Kilukumi, was not present as he had another case at the High Court.
Mr Kemo objected to the application, arguing that Mr Nyakundi was in a position to handle the matter even in the absence of Mr Kilukumi since apart from being conversant with the matter since inception, he was more senior than Kilukumi.
“It’s unfair to adjourn the case for a junior counsel to be present when his senior, who has handled the matter since inception, is in court,” Mr Kemo said.
CRIMINAL LAWYER
Renowned criminal lawyer Cliff Ombeta, who was representing the televangelist alongside Mr Nyakundi, pulled out of the case following a disagreement over his security.
Mr Nzilu had told the court that his lawyer, Mr Arthur Ingutia, was not present and requested the court to adjourn the case for at least two weeks since the lawyer will not available until then.
But Mr Kemo objected to the application and called it a ploy to delay the case, saying the accused had ample time to prepare for the case.
The state counsel said there was no proof that Mr Ingutia was representing the accused person, since he had not registered as one of the defence lawyers in the case.
“Mr Ingutia is a courteous advocate and he would have requested one of the four defence counsels to hold a brief for him.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.
No comments:
Post a Comment