The murder case against Dr Victoria Mutiso took a new turn on Tuesday after lawyers Danstan Omari and Cliff Ombeta were allowed to stop representing three of the five accused persons.
Justice Alexander Muteti on Tuesday permitted the withdrawal after Rose Mbithe Mulwa, her son Chris Mulwa and daughter Angela Mulwa told the court they had no objection to the lawyers leaving the case.
The three are facing murder charges alongside Police Constable Elijah Kimoi and Maritim Kimutai, who are the fourth and fifth accused respectively. All five have denied the charges after appearing before the judge.
The question of legal representation was dealt with before the court could hear the pending bail applications, which have been opposed by the prosecution.
State counsel Jalson Makori asked for more time to respond to the defence's submissions, saying the prosecution needed to address several matters raised by the accused. Among the issues was a letter the State said it had received concerning a complaint against the investigators.
The court was told that Omari and Ombeta no longer wished to continue acting for Rose, Chris and Angela. The accused persons were then given an opportunity to state whether they objected to the change in representation.
Rose said there were issues that needed to be discussed with their legal team, including information and evidence that had not been shared with the advocates. She also told the court that the lawyers had not been able to meet them in remand to discuss some matters they considered important to their case.
Despite those concerns, the accused said they were not opposed to the advocates withdrawing.
The court heard that the three could not be required to continue with lawyers who had decided they no longer wanted to act for 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,” Justice Muteti told Rose.
The judge thereafter allowed Omari, Ombeta and the other lawyers who sought to withdraw to cease acting for the three accused persons.
During the proceedings, the defence also raised allegations concerning the treatment of the accused while they were in custody, including claims that they had been tortured.
The accused further wanted to raise concerns over documents, identification cards and passports which they said were taken from a house during an eviction.
Justice Muteti directed that those matters could be brought before the court during the hearing through witnesses and the evidence presented.
“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 then issued directions on the bail applications, giving the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions three days to file and serve an affidavit responding to the requests for release.
The advocates who will take over representation of Rose, Chris and Angela, once secured, together with lawyers representing Kimoi and Kimutai, were allowed to file supplementary affidavits.
The court will consider the bail applications after the prosecution files its response.
Kimoi and Kimutai have separate lawyers in the proceedings. The prosecution alleges that Kimoi fired the shot that killed Dr Mutiso.
The five accused persons remain charged jointly with murder and have pleaded not guilty.