In today’s court news, a 19 year old first year student at the Multi Media University was on Tuesday arraigned before a Kibera high court and charged with the murder of Sylvia Kemunto who also a student at the same institution.
Erick Mutinda appeared before Justice Diana Kavenza where he was charged with one count of murder for killing Kemunto.
However, he was denied bail at this stage and the bail hearing was adjourned to late next month to allow the parties file submissions and opposition to the bond.
The judge also ordered for Mutinda to be escorted to for mental assessment after allowing him to plead to the charge without the report.
The court said there would be no prejudice if he took plea before a mental assessment as the court will know how to handle the matter if the report says he is not fit for trial.
The court has also ordered for a report from the Probation Officer before it determines bail and also directed the State and the victim’s lawyer to file and serve their affidavits within seven days.
Mutinda will now remain in custody for 30 days and the court scheduled a mention for May 29 to fix a hearing date and provide further directions on the bail application.
Mutinda’a lawyer told Court that the State had failed to facilitate the mental assessment so far and reminded the Court that there is a presumption of sanity in all criminal proceedings unless proven otherwise.
He had put up a spirited fight to get bail for Mutinda arguing he was 19 years old, a university student pursuing a degree in telecommunications, and not a flight risk.
He also said that Mutinda voluntarily presented himself to the police since he resides in Sultan Hamud further adding that he does not possess a passport that would enable him to leave the jurisdiction.
The family of the late Sylvia Kemunto, through their lawyer, Danstan Omari and Sam Nyaberi have strongly opposed to his release on bail.
Omari said they have already filed their documents on courts giving reasons why they don’t want Mutinda out on bail.
