You are a judge in the High Court presiding over a trial involving Mbalenhle. Mbalenhle is facing several charges of murder.
Question 3 H You are a judge in the High Court presiding over a trial involving Mbalenhle. Mbalenhle is facing several charges of murder. It is alleged that Mbalenhle, who worked as a social worker at the Good Times Retirement Home, befriended 10 pensioners to the extent that they included her in their wills and she poisoned them in order to hasten their deaths. Autopsy reports had shown that the pensioners were poisoned with arsenic and rat poison. One of Mbalenhle’s fellow social workers and friend, Selena, noticed that Mbalenhle kept arsenic and rat poison in the medicine cabinet in her bathroom. When Selena became suspicious after the tenth pensioner passed away suddenly, she alerted the police and the police arrived at the Retirement Home to search Mbalenhle’s room. The police arrested Mbalenhle and took the poison products into evidence.
0.3.4 In court, the prosecution reads out the charges to Mbalenhle and when the prosecutor asks Mbalenhle about how she wishes to plead, she pleads guilty. However, you are aware that the conviction on charges carries a heavy sentence for Mbalenhle and when you observe her responses to the prosecution’s reading of the indictment, you notice that Mbalenhle is not entirely sure why she is pleading guilty to the charges or whether she is actually supposed to do it. mwscuss what you are supposed to do as a presiding officer in order to ensure that Mbalenhle can be convicted with reference to section 112(1) in the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977. As part of your answer, you must also give insights into why section 112 is an important section concerning guilty pleas and what is required to happen if you are not convinced that the accused is guilty as charged by referring to the decision of the court in the case ofS v Naidoo 1989 (2) SA 114 (A).
(1.3.5 (1.3.6 Assume for this question only that, based on the evidence and testimony presented to you from both parties, you convict Mbalenhle of murder and it falls to you now to consider an appropriate sentence. You are aware that statutorily prescribed minimum sentences apply in Mbalenhle’s case but you are wondering what the nature of your discretion is. Provide any five points that were given in summary concerning a court’s discretion vand minimum sentences from the case ofS v Molgos 2001 (1) SACR 469 (SCA). The families of the various pensioners who passed away are outraged not only about the possibility that Mbalenhle will be imprisoned but that she may even one day be considered for parole. The families believe that what has happened to their deceased loved ones actually does not matter in the court’s view during sentencing and they are wondering whether they would be able to have a say should Mbalenhle ever be considered for parole. © The Independent Institute of Education {Pty} Ltd 2022 19; 20,21,122 Pagl Inwadvise the families of any rights that the families have to have their say in the event that Mbalenhle is considered for parole with reference to relevant legislation.
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