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Court Correspondent
The trial of Marry Mubaiwa on charges of attempted murder failed to continue yesterday, with a sudden announcement by defence attorney Beatrice Mtetwa that she was withdrawing and renouncing agency, meaning Mubaiwa would need a new lawyer.
Mubaiwa allegedly attempted to kill her former husband Vice President Constantino Chiwenga when he was on a life support system in South Africa in 2019.
Ms Mtetwa had initially asked for a postponement stating that Mubaiwa had recently undergone an operation and needed some time to recover.
This is a permitted reason for postponement and presiding magistrate Ms Feresi Chakanyuka took the standard route and asked for the proof of the operation.
Normally, this would include an assessment by a medical doctor to ascertain when the accused person would be ready for trial again.
But there was no proof tendered and no medical report, so Ms Chakanyuka adjourned the trial for one day so that Ms Mtetwa could bring the proof today.
Up to this point, everything was keeping to the standard script in such matters.
But suddenly, Ms Mtetwa told the court that she wished to renounce agency and advised Mubaiwa to look for another lawyer.
“May the accused be instructed to find another counsel and be remanded to a date of your choosing,” she said.
That seemed to place Mubaiwa in a state of shock.
When Mrs Chakanyuka asked Mubaiwa her position on the matter at first she failed to respond.
When asked again whether she will find an alternative lawyer, she was not sure.
“I do not know how to respond to that because I am still in shock,” she said. “The magistrate can tell me what do because she is the one making the decisions.”
Ms Chakanyuka adjourned the trial to today and ordered Mubaiwa to file necessary documents if she wished to persist with the application for postponement.
Online Reporter