Court fails to trace assessors in trial of suspected serial killer
KAMPALA.
The High Court has failed to trace the two missing court assessors in the high profile case of suspected serial killer Baker Walusimbi.
This means that on Monday the trial judge Yasin Nyanzi is likely to release Walusimbi on bail as he vowed at the suspect’s last appearance a month ago.
“The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has failed to trace the missing court assessors,” Mr Isaac Muwata, the acting Chief Registrar said by telephone yesterday.
The court assessors Janet Nandudu and John Bosco Higenyi mysteriously disappeared after the hearing of Walusimbi’s case had closed in 2008.
A month ago, the Judiciary wrote to NIRA asking them to check in their data bank for information that would lead to contacts of the missing court assessors.
The Judiciary wrote to NIRA after the trial judge Nyanzi had warned that if the court’s registry failed to trace the assessors in 30 days, he would be constrained to release Walusimbi on bail.
Justice Nyanzi explained that to continue holding Walusimbi after 11 years in jail, would be a violation of his right to a speedy trial.
“My judicial mind tells me that I’ll give the Deputy Registrar 30 days to find the whereabouts of the two missing assessors.
If this is not done, I will proceed to grant bail with suitable conditions,” Justice Nyanzi warned in his ruling on April 25.
When Daily Monitor asked Mr Muwata what will happen after NIRA failed to trace the assessors, he said the fate of Walusimbi’s case now lies in the hands of the judge.
The law stipulates that if court assessors in a case go missing, new assessors have to be appointed and a fresh trial conducted.
However, the prosecution is wary of that path because it has been a long time since the witnesses testified in the case and chances of tracing them again for the retrial are slim.
Criminal Investigations Department spokespersons Vincent Ssekate told Daily Monitor yesterday that a general inquiry file had been opened and the search for the assessors is still on.
Walusimbi is accused of killing three women, raping and robbing many more of their mobile phones and other personal items in 2005.
He faces four counts of robbery and three counts of murder of Moreno Nebulae, a Senior Six student of Makerere College School; Jacqueline Najjombwe and Maria Katasi, both residents of Najjanankumbi on Entebbe Road.
He was arrested on January 21, 2006 following a joint operation by police and the then Violent Crime Crack Unit (VCCU).
Court assessors
Court assessors are non-lawyers who sit together with a judge and at the end of the trial give their lay man’s opinion on whether to convict or acquit the accused after evaluating the evidence adduced in court by the prosecution. However an assessor’s opinion in a case is not binding on the judge who may agree with it or depart from it.
