The High Court has temporarily adjourned the mitigation and sentencing hearing involving former Migori Governor Okoth Obado and his two co-convicts after Sharon Otieno's parents requested an interpreter.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Obado and the co-convicts appeared before Justice Cecilia Githua on Wednesday, September 16, for mitigation and sentencing after they were convicted of murdering Sharon in 2018.

The proceedings took an unexpected turn when Sharon’s parents sought an opportunity to address the court before the sentencing process proceeded.

The court heard that Sharon’s parents had not filed a victim impact statement after their lawyers said the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) had advised them not to.

📌 What You Need to Know

“On the part of the petitioner’s family, instructed by the Federation of Women Lawyers, we did not file submissions for reasons we can not state now,” said Sharon's family’s lawyer.

The development prompted the court to temporarily adjourn the proceedings to ensure an interpreter is available to facilitate the parents’ participation in the hearing.

However, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) had already filed victim impact reports relating to the three convicts, which the court is expected to consider during sentencing.

The impact reports detail the impact of Sharon’s murder on her family and are among the materials that the court can consider alongside mitigation and pre-sentencing reports.

The sentencing hearing comes nearly two months after Justice Githua convicted Obado and two others after the judge found that the prosecution had proved its case against the three beyond reasonable doubt.

The court found that the three played different roles in the murder, with the prosecution's evidence establishing a chain of circumstances linking them to Sharon’s killing.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke