Court orders mental assessment for rally driver Maxine Wahome ahead of murder trial
Rally driver Maxine Wahome has been charged with murder in relation to the death of her lover Assad Khan.
Wahome did not, however, plead to the charges as she is expected to first undergo a mental assessment to ascertain whether she is fit to stand trial.
Justice Lilian Mutende on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, ordered Wahome to be detained at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Kilimani before she is formally charged on March 15, 2023.
The judge directed DCI Kilimani to escort Wahome to Mathari Mental Hospital on March 14, 2023 for her mental assessment.
“The information states that you are charged with murdering Khan on December 12, 2023, at Preston Court in Nairobi County. This being your first arraignment, you are not required to plead to the charge filed against you by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP),” Justice Mutende ruled.
The judge noted that the orders made by Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi earlier in the day regarding the bond terms are not binding to the High Court.
She however revoked the Sh100,000 cash bail given earlier by Ochoi and ordered Wahome’s detention pending the murder charges.
Kimathi has filed an application in the High Court seeking Wahome to be freed on bond saying she is not a flight risk and has cooperated with investigating officers during the probe.
But the court argued the circumstances in the matter had drastically changed since a formal murder charge was introduced.
The charge was arrived at after the DPP reviewed the investigations file forwarded to him by DCI and expressed satisfaction that there is evidence to support the murder charge against Wahome.
Khan’s murder case has been under investigation by the DCI for the past six weeks when he was admitted at Nairobi hospital with serious injuries allegedly sustained from a case of assault. He was then transferred to Avenue hospital where he succumbed to the injuries.
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