The Milimani Law Courts on Thursday acquitted Michael Macharia Njiiri, popularly known as DJ Brownskin, of all charges related to the death of his wife after finding that the prosecution failed to prove its case.
In a judgment delivered by Trial Magistrate Caroline Nyanguthi Mugo, the court ruled that the evidence presented did not establish criminal responsibility on the part of the accused.
Brownskin was acquitted under Section 210 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
“The prosecution has failed to prove the charges to the required standard,” the magistrate ruled.
Brownskin had been charged with aiding and abetting suicide, failing to prevent a felony, and interfering with evidence by allegedly deleting material from his mobile phone that could have been relevant to the case.
The court heard that the deceased died after ingesting an insecticide, a fact confirmed by a postmortem examination conducted by Dr Ndegwa, which listed poisoning as the cause of death.
However, Magistrate Mugo noted that none of the seven prosecution witnesses presented evidence linking the accused to the offences as charged, including the count of failing to prevent the act.
“The court notes that none of the seven witnesses gave evidence in respect to this count,” she stated.
On the allegation that Brownskin failed to intervene, the court found that the accused took reasonable steps in an attempt to save his wife, including seeking help and rushing her to the hospital, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
The magistrate further ruled that the prosecution failed to demonstrate that the accused had prior knowledge of his wife’s intentions or that he deliberately destroyed evidence on his phone.
The acquittal brings to a close a high-profile case that attracted widespread public attention following the circulation of footage related to the incident, but which the court noted was not produced as evidence during the trial.