Man facing gallows needs more time-counsel
Mompati Tlhankane | Tuesday January 17, 2023 06:00
The current January 2023 session, which was set to conclude this case, ends on February 17, 2023 with judgements while the next session is in April 2023. This means that had Maxala lost his appeal in the current session, his date with the hangman could have been nearer.
The man, who has been facing the gallows since Justice Matlhogonolo Phuthego sentenced him to death in November 2021, got his possible date with the hangman postponed when both his lawyer and the respondent failed to file their heads of arguments.
Maxala’s lawyer, Reneetswe Rabosotho indicated that they need more time to apply themselves because the record was only availed in December 2022. He said their plate was full with the statutory end of year audit. Rabosotho also said Maxala had now requested to have more lawyers in his case therefore they will need time to also be familiar with the case.
“He needs this so that he may adequately prosecute this appeal. And to do that this will have to be in the next session,” he highlighted. In terms of getting their heads of arguments ready, Rabosotho said they needed another month. The state lawyer was absent but a temporary representative from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) did not oppose the appellant’s request. The case will now be enrolled to the next session before March 10, 2023 and the state will have until March 10, 2022 to file heads of argument.
The background of the case is that Justice Phuthego, when sentencing Maxala, said it was clear that the murder was premeditated. “In this case, after the accused had a scuffle with the deceased, he went to his place and took his gun and loaded it and thereafter, started to look for the deceased. He then went to Savemore to continue to drink.
He had time to cool off and properly reflect on the actions that he was planning to take. When he heard that the deceased was in Francistown, he drove about 20 kilometres from Borolong to Francistown to look for the deceased.
When he spotted the deceased, the deceased ran away,” Justice Phuthego said at the time. Justice Phuthego said Maxala was determined to end the life of the deceased because he followed Mlalazi and upon cornering him, he took his loaded gun and shot him to death. “When the accused committed this offence he was no longer a child. In the result, no exceptional extenuating circumstances exist in this case,” Justice Phuthego highlighted.