The director of public prosecutions (DPP) has closed the murder trial of Safari Rally driver Maxine Wahome after calling 29 witnesses.
After the prosecuting counsel Sarah Agweno closed the case, three defense lawyers urged the court to acquit Maxine, saying she has no case to answer.
Maxine is charged with murdering safari rally champion Asad Khan on Jamuhuri Day, December 12, 2022.
Ms Agweno concluded the case that had lasted two years and nine months with the investigating officer, Corporal Diana Angote, telling Milimani High Court Judge Lilian Mutende that Asad died from an infection known in medical terms as Septicemia, which he contracted while undergoing treatment at a city hospital.
Justice Mutende heard that Asad injured himself on the fateful night by kicking a glass window and a glass door pane after a quarrel with Maxine.
Following the deep cut on his right leg, he lost a lot of blood. He was rushed by neighbours to Nairobi Hospital and later transferred to Avenue Hospital where he succumbed to the injuries.
Ms Angote, who spent three days in the dock testifying, told Judge Mutende that three pathologists concurred that the cause of Asad's death was Septicemia.
She concluded her testimony saying Asad was not assaulted by Maxine as reported earlier to the police.
“The testimony of Ms Angote brings to a close to the prosecution case,” Ms Agweno told the court and sought one month to sum up her submissions on whether Maxine has a case to answer or not.
However, Senior Counsel Philip Murgor, alongside lawyers Steve Kimathi and Andrew Musangi, urged her to acquit Maxine on grounds that the prosecution had not proven that she murdered Asad.
Justice Mutende directed Mr Murgor to file written submissions within 15 days for no case to answer.
Earlier Ms Angote told the judge that Maxine was arrested on the strength of a report filed by a brother of the deceased, Adil Khan, who alleged that it was Maxine who assaulted Asad at their Kileleshwa residence.
Mr Murgor took Ms Angote through neighbours' testimonies but “none said it was Maxine who assaulted Asad”.
Referring to the witness statement recorded from one Hassan Oyugi, a neighbor of the deceased, it was established that Asad was the aggressor.
Oyugi told the judge he heard Asad yelling at Maxine, ordering her to leave his house.
In the testimony, Oyugi quoted Asad insulting Maxine in Kiswahili, “Mbwa toka kwa hii nyumba (you dog leave my house).”
Oyugi said: “Maxine alijibu nitatoka (Maxine responded, 'I will leave').”
Ms Angote said no single witness ever reported to the police seeing Maxine assault Asad. The police relied on the report by Adil Khan.
“To date, has Adil Khan ever presented a witness to state that he or she saw Maxine assault his late brother?” Mr Murgor asked her.
Ms Angote responded in the negative. She told the judge that Adil informed police that he was called by Asad’s neighbour to inform him about the incident.
She said the police rushed to Asad's residence and found that he had been taken to Nairobi Hospital, where they found Asad at the High Dependence Unit.
“Now that you know that Maxine did not assault Asad, don’t you think she has no case to answer?” Mr Murgor asked Ms Angote, who responded that the court would decide.
Mr Murgor, further pushed: “Now that you know that Asad was the aggressor, isn’t Maxine innocent and that she should be released to her mother?”
Further grilled by Mr Murgor, Ms Angote admitted that she lied that the accused (Maxine) had no fixed abode when she presented a miscellaneous application seeking to have her detained for 14 days.
She further admitted that she swore falsely that Maxine had no job, yet she knew she was a safari rally driver.
Maxine is charged with murdering Asad Khan on December 12, 2022, at Kileleshwa in Nairobi.
