Tracey Stewart‏ @Traceyams 4m4 minutes ago
I didnt tell the police to take Henri to his doctor for treatment in this case @CapeTownEtc #vanbreda
to be described as a cut rather than a scratch - in Afrikaans she is saying "sny" rather than "krap" #vanbreda
Scratch/ scrape is more something done with something "stom" where a "sny" mark "cut" is done by something sharp #vanbreda
@CapeTownEtc #vanbreda you investigated Henri within a few hours yes- I would suspect I would have seen signs of head trauma at that time
@CapeTownEtc #vanbreda showing the staircase where Henri says he fell. The injuries which you saw on the accused would they be consistent
@CapeTownEtc #vanbreda with a significant fall on the stairs - No not really maybe the head wound but I would expect it to be open and his
@CapeTownEtc #vanbreda head wound was closed. More consistent with blunt force.
@CapeTownEtc #vanbreda SG shows an injury on his back she named it an abrasion it's more like the top part of skin scratched off "grass burn"
@CapeTownEtc #vanbreda like a grass burn
@CapeTownEtc #vanbreda There was a linear line and it was parallel and then it went right as if scratched to the right so it made me
think that he was caught on a hook of something which then scraped his skin off that direction #vanbreda
Albertse suggested we rather refer to a forensic specialist who is specialized to make conclusions on the causes
SG you noted that the patient was right handed
most of the injuries were on the top of his back
Adv Botha- how did his breath smell? Like alcohol? I didn't pick up anything that made me think he was under influence
My client says he remembers 1 of the officers said "could these be self inflicted" you said "you will see"
thats possible but I can't remember
client said you pushed a pen into the wound.
A- its not a pen its an instrument you use to measure depth
he said that it hurt and he flinched and so you said that you are not going to push it in further. Agreed but it did
not look to me like a deep wound.
B says Dr Dempers did tests on a depth of 50mm
He used this point of reference because he saw pictures of the knife and blood that was on it
Dempers says we need to allow for elasticity of skin, it may have been wider than what it appears on examination
Adv Botha going into detail on what his expert will say about the wounds which Henri sustained- obviously deeper
than what the state's doctor has testified
hands up a picture of the knife - it's on scale with the actual knife - so 1mm on the picture is 1mm on the knife
so according to this, Dr Dempers view of 50mm seems to be reasonably accurate - Dr Albertse says if you say so.
they asked me to speculate on the causes which may have lead to these injuries
Ok Is it physically possible to stab yourself in your own chest? Yes it is,
Adv Botha says yes obviously
Adv Botha now has the knife in his hand. He is demonstrating the intruder had knife in his hand and started to try
to stab - he shows a stabbing and slipping motion which would likely cause parallel cuts over his forearm and torso
he then shows that he did stab him, lightly as Henri defended himself on left of his chest
only when he lost his grip on wrist did the attacker have a chance to stab him hard in the chest
Dr Albertse - it is surely possible that those events as described may have occurred
I can't say it is impossible what u described is what caused those injuries says Dr Albertse #vanbreda
Dr Albertse said I would say it was unlikely however it is possible
B lists each injury and demonstration separately and Dr Albertse says yes that is the possible cause of that injury
B that night after you saw my client he saw Dr Van Zyl at hospital and the larger stab wound was closed with "klips"
Both of the swellings on his face were blue at that time @CapeTownEtc #vanbreda
When shining a light in his pupils they were very small and very slow - A accepts
When he searched for emergency number he spelt some searches incorrectly (Proof?)
B asks if this and the small pupils may have been possible that he had concussion - A says possibly
The injuries on the possible fall you mentioned. Is it possible that he could have hit his head on the wall? yes
or on a step a blunt side of step @CapeTownEtc #vanbreda yes she says and the same with the knee injury
he says he lost consciousness from the fall - accepts that was possible
My client also lost control of his bladder, he wet himself, would that be consistent with losing consciousness? yes
Adv Botha finishes his cross examination
