THE STATE v EMELDA MARAZANI

Key Issues

• {"issue_text":"Whether the accused was mentally disordered or intellectually handicapped at the time she committed the acts constituting the four counts of murder, thereby providing a complete defence under section 227 of the Criminal Law Code.","issue_type":"mixed","dispositive":"yes","related_facts":"The accused's testimony regarding her mental state; the conflicting psychiatric reports; the nature and sequence of her actions on the day of the murders."}
• {"issue_text":"Whether the medical evidence presented by the defence was sufficient to discharge the accused's reverse onus of proving her mental disorder on a balance of probabilities.","issue_type":"law","dispositive":"yes","related_facts":"The deficiencies in the reports of Dr. Dube and Dr. Mazhandu; the conclusions of Dr. Mhaka."}

Background