- Last month, Babu told a Nairobi court that he has spent Sh58.6 million to take care of medical bills and the upkeep of DJ Evolve alias Felix Orinda.
- Babu said he took responsibility for Elvove, saying it is a sign of his moral obligation as a leader.
Image: FILE
Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino alias Paul Ongili has urged the court to acquit him for lack of evidence in his misuse of a firearm case.
Through his lawyer Duncan Okatch, Babu told Milimani senior principal magistrate Bernard Ochoi that he should be acquitted under section 215 of the CPC and reprimand the prosecution for wasting precious judicial time on a case that in all fairness, ought not to have been instituted.
In his submissions, Babu submitted that throughout the case, none of the witnesses did testify to the fact that the accused person was disorderly as none of the witnesses saw the accused person behaving in the alleged disorderly manner.
He claimed prosecution placing their reliance on the CCTV evidence could not stand as none of the witnesses backed the said disorderly allegations.
"The prosecution claiming that the accused person was drunk and yet the same is not backed up by any toxicology report is just but a mere allegation whose burden rest on the prosecution to prove that the accused person was drunk hence causing him to behave in a disorderly manner," lawyer Okatch submitted.
He also faulted the evidence of a waiter serving Babu who was in the company of quite several people as it would not and can never be used to establish the grounds that the accused person was drunk.
Furthermore, he said none of the witnesses including the victim has been able to establish that the accused person had his firearm at the material time.
He added that the defence has brought in witnesses who have collaborated with the accused person's evidence that his gun was at the armoury at the material time making it impossible to shoot the victim.
"Your Honour, we submit that the allegation that the accused person shot the firearm with intent to kill is not backed up by any evidence as even the victim did testify for the defence where he informed this court, that the accused person and himself had been friends over the years and as such he had no motive to shoot him," he submitted.
Babu said the prosecution failed to establish that the accused person is guilty beyond any reasonable doubt.
Differently put, he said, the prosecution case is akin to the type civil litigants describe as scandalous, frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the court process.
He said the case must have been instituted in bad faith or incompetence, or both.
The prosecution case was also a perverse waste of precious judicial time, especially in a country that faces an acute shortage of judicial officers.
"The prosecution is very much aware that identity theft is one of the greatest challenges that has come with the world going digital and as such instead of condemning an innocent man the prosecutor should divert its energy to ensure that the actual perpetrator is caught," Babu submitted.
Last month, Babu told a Nairobi court that he has spent Sh58.6 million to take care of medical bills and the upkeep of DJ Evolve alias Felix Orinda.
Babu said he took responsibility for Elvove, saying it is a sign of his moral obligation as a leader.
He was defending himself after the court found he had a case to answer for misusing a firearm that shot DJ Evolve at B Club in 2020.
"I took charge of the life-saving initiative and endeavours of Felix Orinda as a leader. And that would be inconsistent with a person who intended to harm," Babu told the court.
He said that if he did not take the initiative, Evolve could have died.