Shephard Chiwara v The State

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                                                                                   HH 9-12
                                                                                   B861-11



SHEPHARD CHIWARA
versus
THE STATE


HIGH COURT OF ZIMBABBWE
BHUNU J
HARARE, 31 August 2011 and 14 January 2011


Bail Application

Ms Munharira, for the applicant
Mr Tshuma, for the respondent


       BHUNU J: The accused is alleged to have stabbed his wife to death with a
kitchen knife after having accused her of infidelity. He thereafter attempted to commit
suicide by stabbing himself with the murder weapon.
       He now applies for bail on the grounds that he is a proper candidate for bail
because he is of fixed abode. He is a first offender with no other pending charges and has
not interfered with investigations. The applicant states that he is unlikely to abscond since
he has a valid defence and has no assets or connections outside the country.
       The application is opposed on the basis that the offence is a serious one,
committed in a brutal and callous manner. The deceased was stabbed no less than four
times with a lethal weapon on vital parts of the body including the neck and the head.
There is overwhelming evidence against the accused such that conviction is certain. It is
further alleged that the applicant is a border jumper employed in Botswana as a general
hand. Under the circumstances he cannot be trusted to attend his trial.
       Although the applicant denied that he is a border jumper and asserted that he was
using emergency documents to travel to Botswana, apart from his mere say he exhibited
no such documents as evidence of the veracity of his assertion.
       Having critically considered both sides of the argument I am persuaded that a man
who attempts to take his own life in order to avoid trial is unlikely to present himself for
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                                                                                 HH 9-12
                                                                                 B861-11

trial if given the chance to escape. There are valid reasons to suspect that the applicant
may escape beyond the country’s borders if released on bail. For that reason alone I come
to the conclusion that the applicant is a flight risk.
        That being the case, the application for bail pending trial can only fail. It is
accordingly ordered that the application be and is hereby dismissed.




The Legal Aid Directorate, applicant’s legal practitioners
The Attorney General’s Office, respondent’s legal practitioners.