21 Apr 2014

An accused in a murder case has stated that he wishes to appeal Principal Magistrate Goodwill Makofi's decision of not making an order compelling the prosecution to grant him his confiscated clothes and other belongings.

Early this month, Magistrate Makofi refused to make an order compelling the prosecution to give Matshidiso Boikanyo his clothes which were taken from him at the time of his arrest.  

He had also requested to be given the printout of Mascom Wireless which indicated mobile phone numbers which were called by his phone.

However, in his ruling, Magistrate Makofi had told Boikanyo, who is one of the four accused in the murder of a cab driver, that procedurally it would be cumbersome for the court to order the prosecution to handover some clothes which the police seized from him in order to conduct their investigations.

He said the prosecution might possibly use the clothes as exhibits when leading evidence and would be handed back to him if the High Court so wished.

He also explained that it would not be appropriate at this instant for the prosecution to handover a copy of Mascom Wireless printout which indicated cellphone numbers which were called by Boikanyo’s mobile phone before and after the time of the commission of the murder.

He assured Boikanyo that he will be furnished with every document and witness statements prior to his committal to the High Court for possible trial, adding that the prosecution could not serve him with trial documents one by one whilst investigation and summary of evidence had not been finalised.

The accused told the court that he had already written the appeal application letter but was not yet typed. He however, decried lack of stationery, especially papers at the Gaborone Central Prison.

His problem wascompounded by the fact that his immediate family members, friends and relatives had abandoned him ever since he was implicated in the murder case.

Particulars of the offense indicated that the four accused on September 13, 2013 at Block 9 Location in Gaborone murdered Mr Vincent Mopipi who was cab driver.  

The four accused are Tshwanelo Tshimologo of White City in Gaborone, Onthusitse Kgosiethata of Extension 14 in Gaborone, Moabi Seabelo Mabiletsa of Bontleng in Gaborone and Boikanyo, who hails from Tlokweng,   

Recently the prosecutor Mr Mmapatsi Tshimologo from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) said police have released another pending forensic report and photo album which will be used once the case comes into motion.

He however noted that he is yet to study the two documents.

An earlier released forensic report showed that the finger prints of the accused and those which were picked from the deceased’s car did not match nor did the blood stains which were found in the clothes which they were putting on during the time of  the commission of the crime match the DNA of the deceased.

Meanwhile the court has since issued a warrant of arrest for the third accused, Mabiletsa, who has absconded from reporting himself to the police and attending court mentions as stipulated in his bail conditions.

Boikanyo will come for another mention on April 29 while his co-accused will come on April 24, 2014.

For the time being, the prosecutor, Mr Tshimologo is in the process of writing to Director of DPP, Mr Leonard Sechele, to withdraw charges against Tshimologo and Kgosiethata without prejudice to the state. Ends