COURTS REPORTER
Former Masvingo Provincial Magistrate, Rungano Victor Mahamad has been found not guilty by the High Court on charges of attempted murder.
He had been sentenced to six years imprisonment with three years being suspended on good behavior.
It was the State case that the complainant and Mahamad had a misunderstanding over a girlfriend and the accused then produced a pistol and shot the complainant once on the arm.
Mahamad who was represented by Admire Rubaya of Rubaya and Chatambudza Legal Practitioners argued that the complainant was the aggressor and was armed with a screw driver and the incident had emanated over an issue of a stolen cellphone.
The higher court, in its findings, ruled that the cause of the dispute was not as alleged by the State and that the means used by Mahamad, under the circumstances, were reasonable. The conviction was set aside and the sentence quashed.
Mohamad through his lawyer argued that the State had dismally failed to rebut his defence that he had acted in self defence after being unlawfully attacked by a drunk complainant who was armed with a screw driver which Rubaya argued was a lethal weapon.
The High Court agreed that the manner in which Mohamad responded to the unlawful attack was proportionate in that the complainant was only shot by the arm and had confirmed in evidence that he had not suffered serious and permanent injuries.
The state counsel who originally intended to oppose the appeal was then asked critical questions resulting in her conceding that the State had failed to rebut Mohamad’s defence.
