South Africa - Martin, 55, Theresa, 54, Rudi van Breda, 22, murdered, 26 Jan 2015 #2

[JudgeJudi]

Botha's losing people's respect I think, he's actually reversing the situation because the more he badgers these witnesses, it magnifies what the truth is, there were no intruders, HvB is the attacker and his superficial wounds are self-inflicted. It's not working a charm like with the police and security staff.

The police are always soft targets for the defence in criminal trials because they nearly always do something wrong, not just in SA. They're so poorly funded in SA and don't get the training that's needed. There are 2 things that would solve a lot of their problems though that don't require much funding or training.

1. Officers attending a crime scene, in particular where murders are concerned, should videotape everything and have another officer oversighting this.

2. When suspects are taken to the station to be interviewed, 2 officers should be present for the entire interview and it should be audiotaped.

 

[Tortoise]

The defence said they disagreed with Dr Anthony's findings with regard to Rudi.

 

[JudgeJudi]

One of the things that really gripes me with defence counsel is that in addition to representing their client, an advocate is an officer of the court. This means that in addition to their duty to the accused they also have an overriding duty to the court to ensure that it is not misled.

Barry Roux and now Pieter Botha appear to me to be doing just that. It's one thing to ensure their client gets a fair trial and make the prosecution prove their case, but it's quite another to go down the slippery slope of doing everything within their power to twist the evidence in the hope of seeing a murderer go free. These are not stupid men so they must have an extremely strong suspicion that their client is guilty. I can't tell you how much it disgusts me.

 

[Tortoise]

I don't have any legal knowledge but logically he was giving a witness statement and therefore would not have had his rights read to him (assuming in SA it is the same as the UK). It was a very long time until he was charged with murdering his family. He gave himself in on 13th June 2016 after hearing he was about to be arrested. I assume he was read his rights then. He was charged with murdering his family the next day at Stellenbosch Magistrates Court. I haven't been able to pin down anyone reading his rights before then. It seems he was free to come and go as he pleased.

The only information that might throw doubt on the situation is that he says the detectives stated at some stage that Marli had been given a special drug and was telling the police all about that evening. I don't know how true this is or whether it is another of HvB lies but it might be difficult to prove/disprove.

Good point. Although I would argue (if I was the State) that he still wasn't under detention or arrest and they were investigating. I wonder what case law says about the stages of officially being a suspect. I mean was he released under some sort of proviso that his uncle would ensure he stayed with them, and didn't leave the country? He seems to have been with Marli's boyfriend's family that evening.

 

[Tortoise]

One of the things that really gripes me with defence counsel is that in addition to representing their client, an advocate is an officer of the court. This means that in addition to their duty to the accused they also have an overriding duty to the court to ensure that it is not misled.

Barry Roux and now Pieter Botha appear to me to be doing just that. It's one thing to ensure their client gets a fair trial and make the prosecution prove their case, but it's quite another to go down the slippery slope of doing everything within their power to twist the evidence in the hope of seeing a murderer go free. These are not stupid men so they must have an extremely strong suspicion that their client is guilty. I can't tell you how much it disgusts me.

These two are morally bankrupt IMO. It seems to me as if Botha is putting his own thinking into what could have happened. It will be an injustice if Henri doesn't give evidence after Botha has put details to witnesses that aren't in his plea statement.

Galloway should have objected when Botha twisted yesterday's evidence but instead it was Desai that intervened. Good job he is following every word!

 

[Interested Bystander]

SUNDAY TIMES NEWS BY NASHIRA DAVIDS AND ARON HYMAN, 2016-01-24 00:03:00.0

“the biggest riddle is that the police have yet to make any arrests, despite the murder docket having been submitted at least twice to the National Prosecuting Authority.”

http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundayti...gs-one-year-on-the-riddle-of-Henri-van-Breda1

If no arrests have been made, surely HvB would not have been read his rights or is that me being too simplistic? This article is dated a full year after the murders.

 

[Tortoise]

Self-inflicted wounds done for motives of gain were not common said Dempers‚ “but are well-described in the literature”.
Textbooks went into details of “parallel superficial incisions‚ grouped together‚ on the non-dominant side (usually the left as most people are right-handed).”
They also typically occurred in areas that were less sensitive‚ and when people were standing still.

more to read at -

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/20...prove-attacker-caused-Henri-van-Bredas-wounds

 

[Tortoise]

STATE GAINING GROUND
Advocate Botha had a very hard time cross-examining Dr. Tiemensma on Day 16. There is no doubt that she has been exposed to plenty of cross-examination in her career – she was exceptionally well prepared; producing immediate, precise and well-substantiated views about anything that was put to her. At one point, she even challenged a quote read out to her by the defence from a forensic science textbook (noted to be the 2nd edition, when Dr. Tiemensma possessed the 3rd edition!). She immediately interjected with a contradictory quote from an article she had with her in court, written by a neurologist, when she dealt the evidence on concussions.
- See more at: http://www.capetownetc.com/news/van...ies-with-solid-evidence/#sthash.e2oQ03KR.dpuf

 

[Interested Bystander]

SUNDAY TIMES NEWS BY NASHIRA DAVIDS AND ARON HYMAN, 2016-01-24 00:03:00.0

“the biggest riddle is that the police have yet to make any arrests, despite the murder docket having been submitted at least twice to the National Prosecuting Authority.”

http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundayti...gs-one-year-on-the-riddle-of-Henri-van-Breda1

If no arrests have been made, surely HvB would not have been read his rights or is that me being too simplistic? This article is dated a full year after the murders.

OOOps I should have said if no arrests had been made at that time. We all know when he was arrested. Apologies.

 

[Interested Bystander]

Interesting comments on Day 17

http://www.capetownetc.com/news/van-breda-trial-day-17-henri-to-testify/

TRIAL WITHIN A TRIAL?
Professor Dempers’ testimony, moreover, triggered another series of complications in the case, and also identified a big pivot in the case – Henri Van Breda will testify imminently.

 

[L2L]

Interesting comments on Day 17

http://www.capetownetc.com/news/van-breda-trial-day-17-henri-to-testify/



TRIAL WITHIN A TRIAL?
Professor Dempers’ testimony, moreover, triggered another series of complications in the case, and also identified a big pivot in the case – Henri Van Breda will testify imminently.

How long would we expect the Trial within a Trial to take? Gosh, I hope Judge Desai allows whatever it is the Defence is objecting to in the lead up to HvB's statement.

 

[Tortoise]

I wonder what it could be that is so damning for Henri. It didn't affect Dr Tiemensma's evidence but it did affect Prof Dempers' evidence. Because he didn't just focus on Henri's wounds, it makes me wonder if it was to do with the attack on the other family members.

 

[JudgeJudi]

OOOps I should have said if no arrests had been made at that time. We all know when he was arrested. Apologies.

Yes, but he was never arrested for the murders. When his legal team contacted him and said he was about to be arrested, he handed himself in.

However he and Danielle were arrested on drug charges. She was released on bail and he was kept overnight and released on bail the following day. Danielle told the court the drugs were hers and the charges against HvB were subsequently dropped.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundayti...da-downloads-and-dagga-arrest-fuel-drug-fears

 

[PrimeSuspect]

I'm reading tweets by others following the trial, one young lady says it well, paraphrasing, 'that a mother shouting "Wat gaan hier aan?", it means she hears familiar voices arguing, this tweeter says it often to her 2 boys'.

*What's going on here?

 

[PrimeSuspect]

I can only do the tweets for 2 hours, (Tracey and Anthony) anyone else is welcome to take over, thank you.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

https://twitter.com/AJGMolyneaux

Anthony Molyneaux‏ @AJGMolyneaux 5m5 minutes ago

Good morning�� Henri & his defence team arrive at CT high court. Proceedings set to start in 30minutes.

@TimesLIVE

(Anthony has posted video of HvB arriving with his lawyers, he has a smirk as he nears the camera! )

Meet Dr. Daphne Anthony. DrA did the autopsy of the 3 deceased van Breda family members. She will be the 1st witness.



https://twitter.com/Traceyams

Tracey Stewart‏ @Traceyams 3m
Adv Botha we are getting to stage of trial where state will give post mortem evidence and Henri has asked to sit far away

Henri moves far to the back of the court in the actual accused bench to avoid seeing the post mortem photos @CapeTownEtc

 

[JudgeJudi]

Day 18

Today's link

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/live-van-breda-axe-murder-trial-day-18-20170525

 

[PrimeSuspect]

https://twitter.com/Traceyams

Tracey Stewart‏ @Traceyams 4m

State calls Dr Daphne Anthony, a medical pathologist based at Tygerberg
Dr D: has been Snr pathologist since May 2009 Dr D performs autopsies

Dr A performed 3 post mortem examinations on 29.01.2015
Adv G: is it correct all 3 post mortals causes of death head injury and consequences thereof
Dr A: traumatic head injury has high mortality rate. Have to understand anatomy of head and brain also type
Dr A:inflicted either by sharp force or blunt force injury or combination of sharp and blunt force
Dr A: as result of injuries you think of the consequences that can lead to the death of the individual
Dr A: You think of classification of injuries focal or diffused

@CapeTownEtc

 

[PrimeSuspect]

https://twitter.com/AJGMolyneaux

Anthony Molyneaux‏ @AJGMolyneaux 1m1 minute ago @TimesLIVE

DrA classified the type of head injuries. Focal injury= localised damage to brain. Diffused injury= widespread damage to brain. DrA is running through all possible types of injuries that can be caused to brain and head.



https://twitter.com/Traceyams

Tracey Stewart‏ @Traceyams 3m3 minutes ago

Dr A; then you have contact phenomena and acceleration phenomena
Dr A: contact phenomena object strikes the head and u will have damage to brain
Dr A: you can get shock waves throughout the brain that can have defects not only caused by the contact
Dr A: Acceleration is when there is movement of the head. If straight line liner type of acceleration causes focal injury
Dr A: in angular or rotational acceleration it causes diffused or wide spread

 

[JudgeJudi]

I bought in bulk today and got a very special discount. They're free to everyone here. I think we may need them.