SIMON NYUTU GICHOHI V. REPUBLIC

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

The appellant Simon Nyutu Gichohi was convicted of murder and sentenced to death on 9th November, 1994, by the High Court of Kenya (Angawa J) sitting at Nyeri.

It is submitted by Mr. Kariuki, for the appellant, that the judgment that was pronounced by the learned trial Judge is illegal in that it was signed by herself together with two of the assessors who took part in the trial in contravention of section 169 of the Criminal Procedure Code. With respect we agree with him.

The judgment in the record is a collective judgment co-signed by the assessors. This is indeed, not only peculiar, but also irregular. Section 169 aforesaid mandates that every such judgment shall be signed by the judge alone in open court at the time of pronouncing it. This grave irregularity is sufficient to dispose of this appeal as we believe that the manner in which it was written has occasioned grave injustice to the appellant.

We think that we need not revisit other fundamental errors commit…