Murder convict Joseph Irungu alias Jowie is putting up a fight to overturn his death sentence in the murder of businesswoman Monica Kimani.
Justice Grace Nzioka on March 24, sentenced Jowie to death after finding him guilty of the murder.
Jowie has now filed a notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal in a bid to overturn his conviction and sentencing that he says infringed his rights and that it’s a degrading form of punishment.
In his application before the Milimani Law Courts, Jowie says the mode in which the death penalty should be enforced is torturous, cruel and inhumane.
He says it is prohibited under article 25 of the constitution which spells out the fundamental rights and freedoms that may not be limited.
These include freedom from torture or degrading punishment, freedom from slavery, and right to fair trial.
Jowie claims that his sentencing over the Monica Kimani murder was in violation of his non-derogable right to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman punishment and wants the court to declare as so.
He has sued the Attorney General in his petition.
In 2017, the Supreme Court declared the mandatory death sentence unconstitutional but did not outlaw it.
The ruling gave judge’s discretion to decide whether to hand down the death sentence or life imprisonment.
In light of this, Jowie wants the court to declare that section 379 (4) of the criminal procedure code is unconstitutional as it denies persons sentenced to death the right to bail pending appeal.
This is the second legal battle Jowie has launched against the state in a bid to secure early freedom, following another that seeks to overturn the death sentence imposed on him by the High Court last month.
Convicted
Jowie was sent to the gallows on 13 March this year after being found guilty of killing Ms Kimani in her Limuria garden in Nairobi.
Judge Grace Nzioka, after analysing the evidence in the case, found that the convict was at the centre of the murder and ruled that he deserved the death penalty.
The judge found that the convict murdered Ms Kimani in cold blood and left her tied up in a bathtub.
Evidence such as the burning of the Kanzu, which the convict had put on on the fateful day in an attempt to conceal evidence, was also taken into account.
The court also relied on the prosecution’s evidence that the deceased did not provoke the convict to justify the attack that left her dead.
Jowie’s pre-sentence report also conspired against him, describing him as a man of dual personality, leaving the court with limited options in sentencing him to prison.
The lead investigator – Chief Inspector Maxwell Otieno – had described Jowie as a dangerous person because he was allegedly involved in a fight after being released on bail.
These factors led the court to sentence Jowie to death.
But now the convict is not only seeking the repeal of criminal laws that prescribe the death penalty for those convicted of murder, but has also asked for compensation for an alleged violation of his constitutional rights.
Jowie’s main argument, and the basis of his legal battle with the state, is that the section of the law he is challenging prevents those sentenced to death from seeking bail pending appeal.
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