One of Kenya's best lawyers Paul Muite once secured the release of a fellow counsel, currently an MP, who dared to smash the head of a magistrate in Makadara law courts
The incident which happened in the 1970s, had been preceded by a heated argument between Muite's colleague and the magistrate who had declined to grant bail to an accused person.
When the Magistrate bent down to write the bail ruling, the angry lawyer picked a chair and smashed it on his head.
The attack had happened faster than the police or bailiff could intervene.
Muite told Kenyans.co.ke that the judged collapsed momentarily. Upon recovery, the lawyer was immediately sentenced to jail by the bleeding judge for contempt of court.
The lawyer's friends called Muite to inform him about what had transpired.
The renown legal mind realised that the magistrate, in the heat of the moment, had crossed his jurisdiction by sentencing Muite's colleague for contempt.
That time, only a high court could handle cases of contempt so he rushed to the high court which freed his friend on a technicality.
Muite who still laughs when thinking about the incident disclosed that the magistrate should have reported the incident instead and sued for assault and disrupting court proceedings.
