Sarah Wairimu, the widow of slain Dutch tycoon, Tob Cohen, on Tuesday opposed an application by prosecution to consolidate her murder case with that of businessman Peter Karanja.
This is after the prosecution argued that the two cases have similar facts, including the name of the deceased, the place and time on the charge sheets.
But Wairumu’s lawyer, Phillip Murgor, strongly opposed the application, saying they don’t have the witness statements and so they are not sure if the facts are related.
Wairimu said that she first has to be supplied with all the evidence material the prosecution intends to rely on during trial.
“Two months later none of the evidence to be relied upon by the prosecution has been produced to us until today,” said Mr Murgor.
He accused the prosecution of breaching their constitutional mandate under Article 50(j) by failing to supply them with all evidence material.
Wairimu said that on November 8, she wrote a letter to the Director of Public Prosecution and Inspector-General of Police requesting to be supplied with all witness statements and any other evidence material to be relied on during the trial.
In the letter, Wairimu requested to be supplied with the call data of the DCI officers and the prosecution team, who have handled the matter since investigations started.
Wairimu is charged with the murder of her husband Tob Cohen. Cohen was a dutch tycoon who settled in Kenya after his stint as the head of Philips East Africa.
Wairum also wants to be supplied with all forensic tests and examination data.
But the prosecution opposed Murgor’s reading the letter in an open court, saying that the issues raised are sensitive and are being investigated by the DCI.
The court heard that the letter all exposes some of the protected witnesses in the case.
Wairimu’s co-accused has also opposed the consolidation of the murder cases.
He said the prosecution has not indicated to court what prejudice they will suffer if they supply all the evidence in the case before the consolidation.
According to the charge sheet filed in court, Karanja said, the crime scene is unknown to them.
The prosecution has insisted that the two cases have to be consolidated as is the norm with other related cases.
The DPP, through Alexander Muteti, said that the objection by the defense is premature as under Article 50 of the Constitution there is no requirement at all that evidence should be supplied to the accused person before plea but requires the same to be done before trial.
“Let the two matters be consolidated and the issue of evidence should be considered at the trial stage,” said Muteti.
Justice Stella Mutuku will deliver her ruling at 2 pm.
