Justice Jessie Lessit on Monday announced having recused herself from Monica Kimani's murder case in which the lead suspects pleaded not guilty.
Lessit, with her 32 years experience handling criminal justice cases in Kenya, in the Monday session informed the accused persons that they will be appearing before a different judge on Wednesday.
Journalist Jacque Maribe and Joe Irungu were appearing before Justice Lessit for plea taking after being implicated in the murder of the businesswoman at her apartment in Kilimani.
Cliff Ombeta, the official legal counsel for Joe Irungu, in a telephone conversation with Kenyans.co.ke confirmed that their team will present their clients before a different judge saying they were not given reasons why Justice Lessit might have pulled out of the case.
"She is the judge in charge of the criminal division in Kenya and she has so much work and maybe she might not be available on that day or she might be handling another matter on that day," stated Ombeta.
He held that given that the accused person's lawyers were pressurizing the court to have the murder case heard soon, the Judge might have resorted to assigning it to a different judge given she leads the division.
Ombeta also believes that there is a possibility that the judge does not intend to be involved in the matter but maintained her decision may have been reached out of "any reason."
Maribe and Irungu will be remanded until Wednesday 17, 2018, when they shall present their applications seeking to be freed on bail.
Justice James Wakiaga now officially takes over the matter as Maribe and Irungu strive to prove their innocence in the murder case.
Justice Lessit, believed to be among the toughest in the criminal cases division, is also the presiding judge in the Sharon Otieno's murder case where Migori Governor Okoth Obado has been implicated.
