Published by the government of Zimbabwe
8 July 2009
Harare — The defence lawyer in the case in which Chinowona Mwanda the driver blamed for the accident that killed Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's wife Susan in March has urged the court to acquit his client for lack of evidence.
Mr Godfrey Mamvura of Scanlen and Holderness filed his closing submissions on Friday last week before Chivhu magistrate Mr Tapera Bvudzijena.
In his submissions, he argues that taking into account the totality of evidence adduced during the trial, the prosecution had failed to prove any of the negligence it had alleged against Mwanda. The prosecution, he said, was bound by particulars of negligence it had alleged.
Mwanda is charged with culpable homicide. It is alleged that on March 6 this year at the 83-km peg along the Harare-Masvingo highway, Mwanda, who was driving a US-embassy registered Nissan diesel truck negligently caused the death of Mrs Tsvangirai who, together with the PM, was a passenger in another vehicle.
Mwanda's truck sideswiped the car the Tsvangirais were travelling in causing it to overturn three times. Mrs Tsvangirai died on admission to hospital. The defence has argued that the accident was caused by the bad condition of the road.
"The State has failed to prove that the defence that the accident was caused by the dangerous condition of the road does not apply. In the circumstances, the accused (Mwanda) must be found not guilty and acquitted," he argued. But the State, led by Mr John Hama, urged the court to convict Mwanda of causing the death of the PM's wife.
Mr Hama said Mwanda was negligent in his driving. Mwanda, he said, failed to observe the traffic rules and hit a hump. This, he said, showed negligence on the part of the driver.
"The State submits that the accused drove his vehicle on the day in question negligently and caused the death of Susan Nyaradzo Tsvangirai and accused should be found guilty as charged," said Mr Hama. When the trial opened in May, Mwanda pleaded not guilty to the charge of culpable homicide. He denied having been negligent as alleged by the State.
In his defence outline, Mwanda claimed that the accident was caused by the dangerous condition of the uneven portion of the road. He further argued that the other contributory factor was the absence of any warning signs to motorists concerning the hidden dangerous condition of the portion of the road where the accident occurred.
But Mr Hama, in his submissions, said the aspect of contributory factors did not apply in criminal cases but in civil matters.
"In criminal matters, contributory factor is mitigatory and cannot be raised as defence," he said. Mr Bvudzijena will deliver his judgment on July 29.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
