01 May 2019

Murder convict, Thabo Masilo, will on June 30 appear before Gaborone High Court for sentencing following Justice Abednego Tafa’s return of a guilty verdict in December last year.

When setting the date during an appearance before court on Tuesday, Justice Tafa said despite his being convicted, Masilo still had the right to know his fate without any undue delay.

Earlier, when mitigating on behalf of his client, defence counsel, Mr Kgosietsile Ngakaagae submitted that although there was indeed no evidence of aggravation in the case, there did exist some extenuating circumstances to which the court had to be alive when deciding which sentence would be best suited for the offence.

Mr Ngakaagae cited of the extenuating circumstances, Masilo’s youthfulness, his impaired upbringing and intoxication at the time of the commission of the offence as having had a bearing on his client with regard to the offence for which he was being tried.

On the issue of Masilo having had an impaired upbringing, he said the court not only had to confine itself to the fact that the convict’s mother had done her utmost to ensure that her son had the best possible upbringing despite him having no father figure.

He said the issue of an impaired childhood was broad as it spoke into the social and psychological aspects of one’s life, saying in Masilo’s case, the convict had a hearing impairment and some other psychological challenges as had been adduced through the evidence of his mother.

Mr Ngakaagae said all the factors needed to be considered no matter how remotely linked to his upbringing they may seem.

On his immaturity, he submitted that the fact that the convict could reason and set out his case fairly reasonably during trial did not necessarily mean that he was adequately mature to not be susceptible to making poor judgments or decisions.

In addition, the defence attorney addressed the issue of the murder weapon, saying the fact that Masilo did not come to the deceased’s house armed was proof that the murder was not premeditated.

Mr Ngakaagae said the convict might had gone to the deceased’s house hoping that there would be no one present, or that whoever would be there would not offer resistance to his robbery attempts, but that the deceased lost her life when the situation did not pan out the way Masilo had expected.

He argued that the premeditation that was ascribed to the offence of robbery in the case was not true for that of murder.

In the end, Masilo’s attorney submitted that given the extenuating circumstances prevailing prior to and at the time the convict committed the offence, the death sentence would not be an appropriate punishment.

In response to the defence’ submissions, state attorney Mr Kamogelo Maleke argued that the extenuating circumstances advanced lacked weight and could thus not deter the court from imposing capital punishment on Masilo.

Mr Maleke said the issue of the convict being intoxicated when he committed the offence was an afterthought on the part of the defence as it was only raised later during the case.

Despite that, he argued that some legal authorities indicated that intoxication could not count in favour of an accused person if it was found that they could, during the alleged intoxication, engage in some activities that required a certain level of sobriety.

In the case at hand, he said that the fact that Masilo had managed to climb into the ceiling of the house in which he murdered the deceased was evidence that he was not as intoxicated as he had claimed.

On the subject of youthfulness, he submitted that the evidence tendered before court had indicated that Masilo was mature enough to make a distinction between right and wrong at the time of committing the offence.

The attorney also dismissed the issue of the convict’s impaired hearing, saying the defence had not called an expert, during trial, to assist the court to make an informed decision on the matter.

Masilo was last year found guilty of the 2012 murder of Tshepang Motlhabane, who had just completed Form Five at St. Joseph’s College. ENDS