KENYA: PROHIBIT DEATH SENTENCE, CONVICT APPEALS IN COURT

Godfrey Ngotho Mutiso argued that the mandatory death sentence was unconstitutional in the Kenyan Court of Appeal. His lawyer argued that all cases are different and therefore cannot have a fixed penalty, and that it deprives the judge of discretion. “The principle of fair trial allows the trial judge to inquire into the character of a convict before sentencing. Although not listed as a right, one cannot be deprived of it, as a right.” Mutiso was sentenced to death in 2008 for murdering Patrick Waweru Gachoki in Mkomani in 2004.