Lawyer on death row wins retrial

A lawyer serving a death sentence over robbery with violence has won re-sentencing.

Aloise Onyango's jail term was reduced to 18 years but he will only serve two since he has been in prison for 14 years.

He had appealed on the grounds that he was denied legal representation and his entire trial was bad.

Yesterday, Kibera chief magistrate Joyce Gandani ruled that the convict had proved that the judgement was not as per required standards.

His first petition at the High Court was unsuccessful and thereafter he made a second appeal at the Court of Appeal, which was also unsuccessful.

He then filed another petition challenging the constitutionality of the judgement at a Kibera court.

Onyango argued that in the previous trials, he was cross-examined by the prosecution, which he contended was irregular, defective and unprocedural, especially since he gave an unsworn statement in his defense.

He said the trial court did not conform to the full requirement of the law.

Onyango insisted the trial magistrate failed to make certain remarks in the judgment, namely the points for determination, the decision and the reasons for the decision.

It was  his contention that the trial court erred and he demanded a retrial.

The petitioner argued there was no sentence in the judgment rendered by the trial magistrate nor did the magistrate sign and date the judgment as required.

Thus, he said, a fair trial was not accorded to him and his conviction and sentence were unlawful.

Onyango had been found guilty and sentenced to death after he was charged that on June, 20, 2003 at Riruta junction in Nairobi county jointly with others while armed with pangas and iron bars, he robbed Josephat Alukuwas of Sh4,000 and an atomic watch valued at Sh19,500.

He was charged that before or after the robbery, he threatened to use violence on the complainant.

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