Mhangura man acquitted of murder

Mathew Masinge

A MHANGURA man has been acquitted of murder after he was accused of stabbing his friend over a cigarette.

Last Mbizi allegedly committed the offence in August 2020 IN a scuffle with the late Mika Adriana.

The two were panning for gold, along the Hunyani River banks, when the incident happened.

Prosecutors claimed Mbizi asked for a cigarette and, when his request was turned down, he hurled insults at the deceased.

The deceased then charged towards Mbizi, with a piece of firewood, before pulling out a knife.

However, the deceased was disarmed by Mbizi and, in the process, he was cut in the abdomen and his intestines protruded outside.

The deceased later died from injuries sustained during the scuffle.

Mbizi pleaded not guilty to the murder.

In his finding, Justice Munamato Mutevedzi said there was no evidence to satisfy that Mbizi had intent to kill the deceased.

“The case at hand is a typical reminder that if care is not taken the courts may arrive at completely unsafe verdicts of guilt grounded on the so-called dying declarations.

“We have in this case a deceased who is alleged to have been the aggressor, he was stone drunk and appeared to have taken time to realise that he had been critically injured.

“To accept his version of events on the basis that it constitutes a dying declaration, without more, amounts to throwing out through the window all the safeguards which for many years have been internally built into our legal system to mitigate against the conviction of innocent people,” reads the judge’s finding.

Justice Mutevedzi said Mbizi cannot be liable to both culpable homicide or murder.

“Once the above conclusion is arrived at, it means there is no evidence that the accused assaulted the deceased.

“The accused cannot be liable for any of those offences. It apparently becomes unnecessary to interrogate the accused’s defences of self-defence and intoxication.

From the above, we unanimously agreed that we were not satisfied that the prosecution proved their case beyond reasonable doubt.

“Accordingly, we find the accused not guilty and acquit him of the charge of murder,” reads the judgment.