Case ID:175137

James Onzano Opuchi v Republic [2021] eKLR

Case Metadata

Case Number:

Criminal Petition 40 of 20188 (From original conviction and sentence in Criminal Case HCCR 18 of 2003)

Parties:

James Onzano Opuchi v Republic

Date Delivered:

10 May 2021

Case Class:

Criminal

Court:

High Court at Kitale

Case Action:

Ruling

Judge(s):

Luka Kiprotich Kimaru

Citation:

James Onzano Opuchi v Republic [2021] eKLR

Court Division:

Criminal

County:

Trans Nzoia

Case Outcome:

Application dismissed

Disclaimer:

The information contained in the above segment is not part of the judicial opinion delivered by the Court. The metadata has been prepared by Kenya Law as a guide in understanding the subject of the judicial opinion. Kenya Law makes no warranties as to the comprehensiveness or accuracy of the information

REPUBLIC OF KENYA

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA

AT KITALE

CRIMINAL PETITION NO. 40 OF 2018

(From original conviction and sentence in Criminal Case No. HCCR 18 of 2003)

JAMES ONZANO OPUCHI.........................................................................APPLICANT

VERSUS

REPUBLIC..................................................................................................RESPONDENT

RULING

The Applicant James Onzano Opuchi

,

was convicted of

Murde

r contrary to

Section 203

as read with

Section 204

of the

Penal Code

. He was sentenced to death. The sentence of death was later commuted to life imprisonment. The Applicant was aggrieved by his conviction and sentence. He filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal. Meanwhile the Applicant has approached this court with an application seeking to be resentenced. There is no evidence placed before the record of this court that the Applicant has withdrawn or abandoned his appeal to the Court of Appeal.

The resentencing option is only available to a convict who has exhausted all the legally available avenues of appeal. A resentencing is not an alternative to an appeal. A resentencing is not a short-cut to the appeal process. An Applicant applying to the court for resentencing pursuant to the Supreme Court decision of

Francis Karioko Muruatetu & Others – vs- Republic [2017] eKLR

is assumed to have either admitted the offence or that the Appellate process has ender it such that he can no longer challenge his conviction. Where it is established that there is a pending appeal, this court has no jurisdiction to m hear an application for resentencing because to do so, will be usurping the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal.

In the premises therefore, notwithstanding the Applicant’s mitigation, this court cannot consider the application for resentencing because it lacks jurisdiction. The Application herein was filed during the pendency of an appeal to the Court of Appeal. The said lacks merit and is hereby dismissed.

DATED AT KITALE THIS 10

TH

DAY OF MAY, 2021

L.KIMARU

JUDGE