I have some worries about a neurologist testifying. I wonder if HvB was examined by him? If he was HvB could have boned up on all sorts of symptoms that would/could cause fainting. I do doubt whether he will agree a faint would last hours. Usually it is minutes - once the patient falls to the ground the blood flow to the brain is restored and the patient recovers, assuming of course that they are having a simple faint and it is not due to an underlying health problem.
I don't think he lost any blood. His scratches were minor. He is a bright boy and he could lay on thick some symptoms that it might be difficult to deny once the patient has recovered.
I don't trust B and C. I am guessing that they will have hired someone known to cause trouble in trials. I think it possible that we will have another Olckers who could throw up some doubt. It seems he did have a bump on his head but as you say one needs a pretty huge bang on the head to pass out.
At the moment it seems fairly clear what Desai thinks (at least I hope it is). What we don't want is a Neurologist who comes up with very obscure reasons why a long faint/unconsciousness is a possibility. However, my money is on Desai getting it right.
He did lose a tiny bit, but yes, all wounds were minor. Remember the pic of him in the ambulance. He had a bandage over a wound above his shorts where he was allegedly stabbed with the knife.
Tiemensma said:
Injuries in reachable areas. Thorax and abdomen look different, look caused by stabbing action; also superficial.
Photos of blood on his wound is shown. She says it can't be concluded that that was the original state of the wound. Paramedics had attended to it.
The defence are trying to suggest he was unconscious for 2 hrs 40 mins. It will be interesting to hear what the neurosurgeon says to account for such an extended period.
How very convenient for HvB that this would eliminate all the time he needed to clean up and hope that Marli would die.
An advocate for the surviving daughter of the van Breda family has confirmed a trust has been set up to take care of the teenager and her 20-year-old brother, Henri.
"The trust has trustees, they are assisted by an attorney in Pretoria so they look after all the financial notice."
Coetzee says the trustees have been paying for Marli's medical and legal bills.
http://ewn.co.za/2015/03/15/Trust-fund-secures-Marli-and-Henri-van-Bredas-future
This sounds like the trust that would be paying for HvB's defence.
Hi all, sorry I haven't been here with you to share in all the fun again today, not.
Thanks to you wonderful ladies Prime and JJ for keeping us updated.
I think the winning attack by Galloway has to be the one that seems to have been left quite understated really. If the defence truly wanted to prove that the lab's results were wrong and exclude or include different DNA donors, all they had to do was re-test the samples, or a random sample of them. That would resolve it once and for all - no need for two weeks of money down the drain with Olckers rambling on in the witness box. They didn't dare. Her method is to try to destroy the case hypothetically - not with direct evidence of a single error in the results. Otto had already conceded that Teresa may not have been in the shower mixture anyway.
I don't think I've been so bored by any witness since Prof Derman, the Pistorius court lecturer. I think Galloway has sealed her own future now as the NPA's very own DNA expert examiner. She's done so well getting to grips with a very complex field.
So, on to Henri's coma. How convenient that he woke himself up just before the family would have been noticeably absent from their daily activities, or about to be discovered by the cleaner.
Dunno L2L, she's got dodgy ankles apparently.Derman! Will you ever forget how he droned on! He and Olckers would make good dancing partners!
Dunno L2L, she's got dodgy ankles apparently.
I think we should just lock 'em in a room together and throw away the key.
That is around UK £11,000,000. No way HvB can be running out of money yet if that figure is correct. Seems Botha is bringing undue pressure for effect.
The R200 million is the value of the estate. This shouldn't be confused with the trust fund which was set up to provide living, medical and legal expenses. As both Marli (who was underage at the time) and HvB were wholly dependent upon Martin for their maintenance, education or advancement in life, the executor of the estate would have set up the trust fund for this purpose and it will be administered by a trustee. We have no idea how large this trust fund is or whether the trustee can add additional funds for HvB's defence.
It is a very large estate and obviously they will be the 2 major beneficiaries (if HvB is found not guilty), but it's quite possible there are other beneficiaries too. Before the estate can be distributed, all claims by creditors, debts, taxes and estate duty etc must be paid. Then and only then can the estate be distributed. As HvB's trial is still ongoing (and there may well be appeals), things will remain as they are for the time being.
So long story short, he doesn't have access to anything further unless the trustee allows it or a court rules on it.
Numerous references were also made to a case dating back to 2004, The State vs. Orrie, where Olckers had previously consulted in her capacity as a forensic expert – and not as a witness – for the Defence team who represented the now-convicted Orrie brothers. Advocate Susan Galloway told the court how the judge in that case had reprimanded the forensic expert, saying that ten court days had been wasted, as she had reached an “extraordinarily far-reaching conclusion” based on her findings, which he added was not the actual “accuracy of the DNA tests”.
On *Monday, 13th October, we’ll be introduced to the next witness to testify for the Defence, a neurologist based in Kwa-Zulu Natal named Dr Michael Denis Du-Trevou.
Derman! Will you ever forget how he droned on! He and Olckers would make good dancing partners!
http://www.capetownetc.com/news/van-breda-cross-examination-expert-ends/
(*That should read Monday 23rd October)[/FONT][/COLOR]