By: Kelvin Chiringa
A man identified as Josephat Boois, who was convicted and jailed for the gruesome murder of a taxi driver before robbing him of his taxi is now pleading for a second chance by having his matter dealt with again in the High Court.
Boois was arraigned in the regional court on two counts of murder and robbery and got sentenced to 20 years in jail.
Although he has not raised any issues with the conviction, he last week applied for an appeal against his sentence.
But the state shot down the application stating that it was late by more than six years and had no merits.
The state prosecutor submitted that Boois had 14 days to file a notice soon after his trial if he so wished to appeal.
Yet the murderer has argued that his application has merits given that the 20-year jail term he was given as punishment was not fair and proper.
His reason is that he had already spent five years and three months in custody before his conviction and sentencing, and thus needed less years.
“I respectfully submit that the sentence imposed by the trial court of 20 years imprisonment is shockingly inappropriate and induce a sense of shock, hence the court ought to interfere therewith,” he pleaded.
Although his application is out of time, he prayed that the court should condone the late filing of the notice of appeal.
The state also submitted that his wish to appeal should not be granted because the offense was committed in a brutal manner.
The court heard that Boois murdered his victim, robbed him of his taxi and was later caught by the police while driving the car with blood still on it.
The weapon he used to commit the heinous crime was also found in the same car.
Cornered by the police, he later assisted them to track and pin down another suspect whom he committed the crime with.
This suspect was unknown to the police.
This should be seen to mean that the criminal was remorse, his lawyer told the court, but the state countered this by arguing that he did so because he did not want to sink alone.
The judges who sat on the matter last week also questioned if there was any merit to his case, as they submitted that the evidence against him was so overwhelming that, despite assisting the police, he was going to be severely punished anyway.
Boois’ judgement will be passed on the 26th of April 2019.
