74. Dispensing death

In a case I had to deal with on the Mutare circuit involved an accused who the assessors and I had little difficulty in finding guilty of the premeditated, planned and viciously executed murder of an elderly defenseless woman in the sanctity of her home, to which the accused had gained access through the roof tiles. He had thereafter subjected his victim to a long, slow and lingering death by torture. This involved slicing her all over her body whilst playing a "cat and mouse" game with her and then leaving her to die of blood loss, cold and exposure. 
Under Zimbabwean law murder is punishable by death unless there are "extenuating circumstances", i.e. special features mitigating the crime. There were simply no extenuating circumstances, only aggravating features. This was a case of the cold blooded and ruthless putting to death of a human being by an arrogant and unrepentant killer. There was little his counsel could advance on his behalf. 
Any normal person will baulk at sending another human being to death. It is hardly surprising. When a person is hanged he is placed on a trap door with his hands handcuffed behind his back and his feet manacled together. His head is covered with a black hood. The noose is then placed around his neck with the knot under the left side of the chin. 
Upon the hangman pulling a lever the trap doors spring open and the man falls a distance that has been especially calculated taking into account his weight and height. Once the man has fallen the length of the rope the noose snaps tight and the knot jerks his head backwards dislocating the vertebrae at the axis bone of the neck which severs the spinal cord. This induces an instant loss of blood pressure and unconsciousness with brain death occurring within minutes. As the central nervous system is shut down, on severance of the spinal cord, all muscles instantly relax, including the sphincter muscle, often leading to the release of faeces and urine down the legs of the deceased. 
Correctly executed it is a most effective and humane way of putting a human being to death. This scientific fact however brings little comfort to the mind of any normal human being involved with the execution of a human being. There is something terribly disturbing to one's innermost self about the whole business of consciously, purposefully and cold heartedly killing another human being. 
As I proceed to pronounce on sentence there is a particular expression of expectancy etched in the faces of the relatives of the deceased, seated in court awaiting justice for their loved one. I hear the voice of the judge, in his red robes, black sash and white wig, set out the reasons for sentence, the words falling like the deft strokes of an artist painting a picture that is disquieting, chilling, disturbing to the senses. 
“You took it upon yourself to decide that this defenseless fellow human being should be put to death, to die even though in the sanctity of her own home …”
That voice is mine, but it is not me, it is the voice of a Judge, the voice of justice. This phenomenon of disassociation in which I have an impression of having a dual personality occurred when I first walked into court as a judge and was to remain with me for all the years I served. When I first walked into "A" court, some 10 years after Sir Hugh Beadle said- "Sergeant - take him away - and I hope to never see him in my court", the fear for a court that then gripped me as a private individual was still with me and was to never leave me every time I entered court.
This fear, however, did not infuse the mind or heart of me as the presiding judge. Therein lay only a deep sense of solemnity and reverence for the age old business at hand. I am conscious also of the faces of all those in court, solemn and expectant, that the wheels of justice must now make their final turn. 

The voice of justice goes on- 
“The manner of her death, at your hands, was to be cruel and sadistic. After so many years of living, interacting with others, including her most loved ones, her life was to be prematurely terminated in a process involving prolonged torture; with death coming as a blessed relief after slow, lingering, terrible suffering. 
Stand up. Because there are no extenuating circumstances as envisaged by law in your case, the court is obliged to impose the following sentence. 

You are to be taken to a place of execution and there hanged by the neck until you are dead. Do you understand?” 

Court was then adjourned. Although dealing with the issues regarding sentence and imposing the death sentence was an extremely solemn and serious business indeed, at no stage did I feel any discomfort, only a deep sense of solemn exaltation at this final turn of the wheels of justice. 
Having exited the courtroom I reached a point where I had to step down in order to enter a passage leading to my chambers. It was only a small step. I tried to take the step and failed. Try as I might I could not manage the simple business of stepping down into the passage. I was not paralyzed but my legs would not respond. 
I had only experienced this once before when our boat bumped onto a submerged hippopotamus in the Zambezi. The animal rose up behind the boat bellowing at nerve vaporizing sound decibel levels whilst advancing on the boat. A terrible fate for us was just nano seconds away when fortunately the boat started and we sped away in the nick of time to a safe distance. 
When I then tried to stand up in the boat I found that I could not. I had lost the use of my lower limbs. I had also lost control of my arms, as when I tried to pick up an object in the boat, I found that I ended up throwing the object high into the air instead of simply bringing it up to where I wanted it. All my movements were jerky and uncontrolled. Undoubtedly the boat experience was due to shock. Being that close to such an animal in that state of rage made my blood curdle, my body freeze and all my nerves jangle. I was shaking like a leaf. 
However I had not been aware of any effect whatsoever impacting my person in sentencing the accused to death. Other than feeling very sombre, I felt as normal as could be. But I was not. I could not take the step and was only able to finally do so, and walk to my chambers, when the court interpreter arrived and physically assisted me. Obviously imposing the death sentence on another human being affected me profoundly even though I was not conscious of this.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------

Extract from my book.  Link - http: //theother.orgfree.com/

PS: I have sentenced 5 people to death. In the book I address the issue of whether or not the death sentence is to be supported or not.

____________________________________________________________

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To get a book that will enthrall, intrigue, entertain and provoke very meaningfully go to -- http://proudlyzimbabwean.orgfree.com/book_page.html