South Africa - Martin, 55, Theresa, 54, Rudi Van Breda, 22, Murdered, 26 Jan 2015 #5

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I just found this in amongst some of my notes. It should have been posted earlier. Nick van der Leek always finds something funny to say.

Botha has spent the entire morning trying to find as many different ways to say the same thing: #DeZalze was not impenetrable.

Hold on. Couldn't the intruders have parachuted in?

Perhaps the intruder was a pole vaulter? It's possible he scaled the perimeter that way too.

'Henri has failed to prove he isn't guilty beyond reasonable doubt'

Botha wags his finger at the Judge. It's for the state to prove it's case, not for his client to disprove it. He's right, but that doesn't mean there's zero onus on his client. Desai asks Botha if Henri's wounds are self-inflicted.

Botha admits the strongest part of the state's case is the "self-inflicted" narrative. Not sure if that's true. The strongest aspect is how compelling the mosaic of circumstantial evidence is in contrast to how weak Henri's version is.

If Oscar was trying to show himself broken, in court [more broken than he actually was], Henri was trying to show himself fixed, in court [more fixed than he actually was].

[URL]https://twitter.com/HiRezLife[/URL]
 
Does anyone understand why it would take the judge 9 and a half weeks to make his decision. I know its been a long trial but I think that's because of all the breaks and half days in court, not because of the tons and tons of evidence.
Do you think the judge is taking his time so the defense cannot later use this as an excuse later down the line for a retrial or appeal. Eg the judge did not take enough time to fully exam the evidence and it shows that his mind was already set to guilty lol..
 
bleuboy said:
Does anyone understand why it would take the judge 9 and a half weeks to make his decision. I know its been a long trial but I think that's because of all the breaks and half days in court, not because of the tons and tons of evidence.
Do you think the judge is taking his time so the defense cannot later use this as an excuse later down the line for a retrial or appeal. Eg the judge did not take enough time to fully exam the evidence and it shows that his mind was already set to guilty lol..
Click to expand...
It's certainly extraordinary bleuboy. I've no idea why he gave himself this long. Perhaps he feels sorry for such a young adult never being free again. I hope.
 
Tortoise said:
It's certainly extraordinary bleuboy. I've no idea why he gave himself this long. Perhaps he feels sorry for such a young adult never being free again. I hope.
Click to expand...
Lol.. I hope that too. HVB needs to be found guilty.
 
bleuboy said:
Does anyone understand why it would take the judge 9 and a half weeks to make his decision. I know its been a long trial but I think that's because of all the breaks and half days in court, not because of the tons and tons of evidence.
Do you think the judge is taking his time so the defense cannot later use this as an excuse later down the line for a retrial or appeal. Eg the judge did not take enough time to fully exam the evidence and it shows that his mind was already set to guilty lol..
Click to expand...

Tortoise said:
It's certainly extraordinary bleuboy. I've no idea why he gave himself this long. Perhaps he feels sorry for such a young adult never being free again. I hope.
Click to expand...

There is nothing unusual about the length of time Desai needs to deliver this judgment. For example, there were 35 days of testimony in the Oscar Pistorius trial and the judgment was delivered 5 weeks after closing arguments.

In this trial there were 63 days of testimony and it will be 9 1/2 weeks after closing arguments.

Desai himself said this is a very complex case. OP admitted firing the gun that killed Reeva. HvB denied killing anyone. OP’s gun was the weapon used. HvB’s defence suggested there was a second axe. We had 9, yes 9, days just on DNA alone, and then out of the blue there was the evidence of Butler re epilepsy etc.

Bearing in mind this trial was close to double the length of OP’s, involved a massive amount of forensics (much of which was disputed), and that if HvB is guilty it will be of 3 murders plus one attempted murder, any competent judge would want to take the utmost care before arriving at his decision. If found guilty, he will definitely appeal providing he can get the funds. We know from the OP trial that the State cannot appeal the facts in an appeal, so this adds another very important dimension to the decision-making process. There will be many i’s to be dotted and t’s to be crossed. I don’t envy him his task.

In South Africa when the suspect is known from the start of investigations, it has a “pretty high” conviction rate. Let us hope that this is one.
 
Verdict to be postponed...................
 
[FONT=&quot]Apologies about the earlier tweet regarding the Henri [/FONT]#vanbreda[FONT=&quot] case where it was thought that a new judge was taking over judgement. Judge Desai will still be making the judgement but requires extra time. The case will be postponed tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/AJGMolyneaux

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Judgement was expected on the 23rd of April, but is now likely to be moved to May. Further details will be revealed tomorrow. MM

https://twitter.com/MoniqueMortlock
[/FONT]
 
Just a hunch but I think Desai has something quite spectacular lined up. I think there was something that really bothered him during this trial, caused a lot of moustache stroking, and it had to do with Olckers and DNA. He is obviously anticipating an appeal and it wouldn't surprise me if he has something up his sleeve that will set a precedent and change the course of future trials.
 
As you know, Desai was to deliver his judgment on 23 April.

By sheer chance I just saw this News24 article dated today, 27 March:

“… Henri van Breda was meant to learn his fate in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday, however the judgment is expected to be postponed.

Judge Siraj Desai is scheduled to hand down his judgment before April 23.

[URL]https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/judgment-in-van-breda-trial-to-be-postponed-20180327#cxrecs_s[/URL]

Checking further I found this which was dated yesterday, 26 March:

During the most recent court proceedings, Judge Siraj Desai announced that he would deliver his verdict on 23 April.

But a new report suggests that Judge Desai had been removed from the case, “due to personal circumstances”.

In the event that a new judge has to take over, there’s a chance the case will need to be tried from the start.

But Eric Ntabazalila, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Western Cape, denies that Judge Desai is being replaced.

“It’s all a lie,” he told YOU magazine.

“The case is being taken over by a different judge, but it’s a temporary measure and only applies to tomorrow.”

The NPA also stated that Henri would be in court tomorrow for a possible postponement of his sentencing.

https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/...rs-up-van-breda-case-judge-confusion-20180326

I'll keep you updated.
 
It would seem that the judgment will be delivered after 23 April.

On Monday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the case would be postponed from the initial April 23 date, for judgment.

Judge Siraj Desai was expected to deliver his verdict on April 23, but NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said that Van Breda would appear in court on Tuesday, for a postponement.

[url]https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/van-breda-back-in-court-for-postponement-14104900[/URL]

I’ll check on a daily basis and let you know when a new date has been set. OISA
 
I just realised that this had been reported here earlier. If nothing else, at least we know that Desai has some sort of personal problem. I nearly fell off my chair when I read that Desai may have have been removed from the case and there was the possibility of a retrial. The relief to learn that was not the case was overwhelming.
 
Henri van Breda’s triple-murder trial (verdict) was postponed until May 21 in the High Court in Cape Town on Tuesday.

This is because Judge Siraj Desai‚ who is hearing the case‚ is unavailable due to personal circumstances.

Judge Mushtaq Parker presided over Tuesday’s adjournment.

The trial‚ which ran for more than 60 days‚ was originally scheduled for judgment on April 23.
 
I couldn't remember what date the judgement was to be so popped in and saw the above, thanks JJ for the updates
 
JudgeJudi said:
I just realised that this had been reported here earlier. If nothing else, at least we know that Desai has some sort of personal problem. I nearly fell off my chair when I read that Desai may have have been removed from the case and there was the possibility of a retrial. The relief to learn that was not the case was overwhelming.
Click to expand...

Let us hope Judge Desai will be available to give his verdict.
I am really worried.
Is it correct, if he cannot continue, a 'retrial' is issued?
 
tmar said:
Thanks L2L, with that Horrid News.
She seemed to be a most intelligent and active lady.
Judge Desai was blessed to have her as his partner.
R.I.P.
Click to expand...

How very sad, and she was only 58. It's such a shame they didn't have longer together.
Read about her very full and interesting life in this article.

RIP
 
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