GUILTY South Africa - Jayde Panayiotou, 28, Port Elizabeth, 21 April 2015

[JudgeJudi]

The cross examination of the investigating officer, Captain Kanna Swanepoel, began on Wednesday.

Swanepoel was called to testify in the trial within a trial to determine the admissibility of the recording of Panayiotou and his bouncer, Luthando Siyoni, the alleged middleman turned state witness shortly after Jayde’s murder.

CP’s defence council have argued that Siyoni was tortured into making his confession and, as such, all further evidence should be inadmissible as “fruit of the poisonous tree”.

Swanepoel returned to the stand, where he was cross examined by CP’s defence council, Advocate Terry Price. Price didn't hold anything back while interrogating Swanepoel on various aspects of his earlier testimony. He repeatedly asked Swanepoel about Siyoni’s legal representation and questioned if he had not tried to convince Siyoni to get different legal counsel. Price said he had witnesses who would testify regarding this.

Swanepoel, who continuously made notes while on the stand, said Siyoni had not been able to afford an attorney and legal aid had been approached to provide representation, which led to the appointment of attorney Van der Spuy.

Swanepoel said Siyoni didn't have money for a blanket or radio and that his parents didn't have money to take a taxi from Kwazakhele to the police station. “We had to send someone to fetch them”.

Foul language
Price questioned Swanepoel on the reasoning behind Siyoni being placed in protective custody at the Humewood Police Station’s holding cells.

He said Siyoni had been given the impression that he feared his life was in danger after unidentified men visited his home. He said there had been heightened concern over witnesses being gunned down at the time and a task team had been established to investigate.

Price rebutted by instructing Swanepoel not to generalise and to remain within the confines of the case and that no witnesses had been gunned down in this case.

Price also raised concerns that Siyoni had complained that Van der Spuy had never visited him, but Swanepoel said Van der Spuy had consulted with Siyoni. “My understanding of never means not once. And Van der Spuy visited him on at least two occasions in my presence” said Swanepoel.

Price then confronted Swanepoel about foul language that was allegedly used by state advocate Marius Stander during interviews with CP’s mistress, Chanelle Coutts. He asked Swanepoel if he could recall Stander asking Coutts why she was with CP, asking her if it was because he had a “groot piel” (big penis) or if it was because he was a “lekker naai” (good in bed).

Swanepoel said he could not recall that being said.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/N...captain-in-panayiotou-case-continues-20170426

 

[JudgeJudi]

Perlemoen kingpin

Price also said Stander had asked Coutts if she was happy to see him and when she replied, “No, absolutely not,” Stander had responded with, “Then you must be lesbian, because all women are happy to see me.”

Swanepoel again said he did not recall such an exchange.

Before court proceedings began Price, who had just arrived at the High Court as the gates opened, was confronted by a man, later identified as William Smith.

An agitated Smith exchanged words with Price before walking off. The exchange is believed to be in connection with the case against alleged perlemoen kingpin, Julian Brown.

Price said before the confrontation he had been receiving calls from Smith and would be seeking an interdict against him.

The case continues on Friday

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/N...captain-in-panayiotou-case-continues-20170426

An interdict is a court order that may be sought in order to enforce a right. It is usually sought by way of application proceedings which are relatively inexpensive and are far less time consuming than trial proceedings.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Swanepoel, the man in charge of investigating Jayde’s murder, held his own on the witness stand yesterday as he fended off allegations of taking shortcuts and destroying vital evidence.

The High Court was packed to capacity as the anticipated face-off between Captain Swanepoel and defence advocate Terry Price SC finally took place.

Price put it to Swanepoel that:

• He destroyed the consultation notes between self-confessed middleman Luthando Siyoni and his attorney at the time by flushing them down the loo;
• He tried to convince alleged hitman Sinethemba Nemembe and co-conspirator Zolani Sibeko to dump their lawyer and instead hire an attorney of Swanepoel’s choosing; and
• He wrote a statement and tried to force a disgruntled former employee of Panayiotou’s to sign it.
• Price also said state advocate Marius Stander had spoken to Panayiotou’s mistress, Chanelle Coutts, in a derogatory manner.

http://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2017/04/27/jayde-cop-fends-off-court-claims/?platform=hootsuite

 

[JudgeJudi]

Swanepoel said he had done everything by the book, that he had had a good relationship with Siyoni and initially trusted what he told him. While Siyoni was in protective custody, he had fetched a blanket from his home to give to him because it was cold at the police station. When Siyoni complained about not having a radio, he had given him his own radio to use.

Swanepoel said, “Everything he told me checked out when I followed up. For instance, he told me that after Panayiotou gave him money [after Jayde’s murder], he met with [now deceased alleged hitman] Sizwezakhe Vumazonke at a KFC. After viewing the KFC’s video footage, I saw that this was indeed so”.

Siyoni has since recanted on his confession, claiming police beat him and forced him to implicate his former boss, CP.

http://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2017/04/27/jayde-cop-fends-off-court-claims/?platform=hootsuite

 

[JudgeJudi]

Price said Siyoni had consulted with a lawyer while in protective custody and Swanepoel had later destroyed those consultation notes to protect the state’s case by bizarrely flushing them down the toilet at the police station.

After Swanepeol denied this, Price said he wanted the court to believe that everyone was a liar, except for him. He said it was also very strange that Siyoni had been given an attorney only after implicating CP and himself. “By that stage, he was knee-deep in it, there was not much his lawyer could do”. He also said that Swanepoel had denied Siyoni an attorney of his choosing.

Swanepoel said, “He told me he didn’t have money for a private attorney so we contacted Legal Aid SA. They appointed Mr [Johan] van der Spuy. He wasn’t just forced on Siyoni.”

Price countered that Siyoni had had the necessary funds. Swanepoel said, “He didn’t even have money for a blanket”.

Price also said Swanepoel had approached a former employee of CP with a written statement and told her to sign it but she refused.

Swanepoel said he had merely wanted to know why she had been dismissed by CP and he denied writing out a statement on her behalf. He said the allegation that he had interfered in Nemembe and Sibeko’s choice of legal representative was laughable.

Cross-examination continues tomorrow.

Swanepoel is the last state witness in the trial-within-a-trial.

http://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/201...form=hootsuite

 

[JudgeJudi]

Today's link:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...nayiotou-28-Port-Elizabeth-21-Apr-2015/page26

 

[JudgeJudi]

HeraldLIVE @HeraldPE

#PanayiotouTrial resumes this morning with IO Kanna Swanepoel still on the stand

Kanna is sworn in. Court is in session. Adv Terry Price (TP) now refers to the statement taken from Luthando Siyoni (LS) in Fort Beaufort

Before he became a state witness, were you hoping to use this statement against him in court? "
Yes. Also the money recovered by Col Mayi"

When did you decide to no longer use statement?
"When he confirmed he would now be a 204 witness"

Why didn't you want to use it?
"We didn't exclude it for investigative purposes, but it was the decision of prosecutor not to use it"

Did you ask LS if he made the confession freely?
"Yes"

TP says Kanna gives long answers to simple questions

What else did you ask him with regards to the build up of the confession?
"I asked how he was arrested etc"

Did he mention police assaulted him?
"No".

TP: I find that strange, the previous night he mentioned it to two cops

On 28 & 29 Apr, did you phone Mayi & ask if LS made statement freely?
"No. I only paid attention to the statement & what LS told me"

Did Constable Koen tell you LS was assaulted?
"We never had such a conversation"

Kanna says he now wants to clarify that after the 29th, he did speak to all the roleplayers

Did Greeff/Reynolds tell you LS was moered?
"I don't know them. The first time we spoke was during a consultation with MS & it came up"

 

[JudgeJudi]

HeraldLIVE @HeraldPE


HeraldLIVE ‎@HeraldPE

Kanna says he didn't ask that specific question. TP: When LS came to you on 28th, did you see an injury? "He had a red mark on eye"

Did you ask him what happened to eye? "I can't recall conversation, mark was never an issue." TP says its the 3rd time asking same question

TP says WO Eksteen placed photos of Jayde's body in front of LS to pressurise him. Kanna says this did not happen in his presence.

He doubts the photos would have even been available by then

We move to Babalwa Breakfast's (BB) statements. Kanna says he went through both her statements with her

TP says there are discrepancies in the statements. The 1st she says CP arrived @ LS's residence on night of murder in silver bakkie

2nd statement says she never saw car

Then, in one statement she says LS carried (alleged hit) money in black bag. The other statement she says money was not in bag

TP: You say she confirmed the correctness of both statements. I'm saying this makes it impossible for both statements to be correct

Did you see the document where BB had an eye test? "The one you paid for?"

TP: What are you accusing me of Mr Swanepoel? Kanna: I just find it strange that you also bought contact lenses for her

TP: Just shows how generous I am. Kanna: It's further strange that this happened before you applied for permission to consult with her

TP says he doesn't appreciate being accused of dishonesty.

Kanna continues that at some point BB left PE to go to family in a village. She was concerned that people from OK had been to his house

 

[JudgeJudi]

HeraldLIVE @HeraldPE

Did you ever get the impression the Panayiotou family was behind this? "No. I think the whole incident is being taken out of context"

Did you tell LS that CP hired a hit man to kill him? "No, that story came from LS"

TP: LS testified that you told him CP arranged a hitman. "I deny that". TP says the prosecutor didn't deny this

Kanna says MS couldn't really do this because LS refused to answer any questions in court. "It is further unfair for me to comment on MS"

To your knowledge, was LS arrested when Mayi fetched him from Infinity? "If I understood correctly, decision to arrest was only taken in FB"

TP says LS was at Organised Crime offices for almost two days but the phone calls in total only took about 36 minutes

Kanna says before commenting, he would like to count the time himself

TP says the point is LS was in the office for a lot longer than that, what was happening when they weren't trying to phone CP?

"We chatted a lot, mostly about him as a person, but I won't exclude us talking about (the case)"

TP: WO Bosch says specifics of the case were discussed in detail.

Did you make any notes about what LS said aside from calls? "What he told me already stood in the confession. No new info"

Do you agree in order for the recordings to be legal, LS must have made calls freely? "I agree".

Did you read (the record) what LS testified in court? "No"

LS says purpose of calls was to get CP to implicate himself. "That's correct". When CP didn't implicate himself. Did you say you give up?

"We did give up until CP called back"

Kanna says he had permission from the DPP to go ahead with sting in car. TP: Who did you phone & about what exactly?

Kanna says he phoned adv Gounden from Grahamstown DPP

 

[JudgeJudi]

HeraldLIVE @HeraldPE

Kanna can't remember if he personally spoke to Gounden or if it was Eksteen

TP says Eksteen, Bosch described what happened in car as entrapment. If so, then they needed permission according to article 252 of the CPA

Kanna says that's why he contacted Gounden. TP says Kanna did not write this down & believes he sucked it out of his thumb

Kanna says Gounden will testify to this himself

Gounden told Kanna to secure the area & not to attach the wires to LS's body

Kanna says to use the car was always in their plans. It was LS's idea to speak to CP

TP says the plan to use the car & fact that this was discussed with LS is not in his statement. Kanna says he may have omitted this

Court adjourns for tea

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sorry everyone, I just noticed that link ^^^ HERE'S THE REAL ONE

https://storify.com/HeraldPE/panayiotou-58f7388c148db83c0e81122d

 

[JudgeJudi]

Kathryn Kimberley‏ @KathrynReporter · 3m3 minutes ago

Court is in session. MS wants to raise something. Says in Kanna's statement it is mentioned that the DPP was contacted twice

TP: So do I understand correctly that you would not have continued to car without permission & if you did, it would have been unlawful

Judge Chetty says that question is a point of law that Kanna should not be expected to answer

 

[JudgeJudi]

Kathryn Kimberley‏ @KathrynReporter · 4 minutes ago
TP does not agree but he moves on. Asks why LS felt his life was in danger

Kanna responds that he could only have gotten this info from people at his home. "There were people there requiring where he was"

"He spoke about a hitman but he didn't have any concrete evidence"

Did you ever approach CP's family or Sizwe Vumazonke's family to find out if it was them? "No"

TP now refers to Kanna's affidavit before Judge Revelas

MS interjects that Kanna made 3 affidavits pertaining to LS's detention. The contents differ

TP says the contents does not differ, except for a paragraph or so

TP refers to Kanna's affidavit dated Jan 15. "On numerous occasions people related to CP & Sizwe went to his house to find out whereabouts"

TP: I asked you if you knew exactly who these people were & you said no. Kanna responds this info he received from LS, could hv been anyone

Kanna says it could even have been people who worked for CP's family. TP says this is a ridiculous response

 

[JudgeJudi]

Kathryn Kimberley‏ @KathrynReporter

TP: Did you have your police diary or pocket book with you? "Yes". Are you aware it is compulsory to write the warning down? "Yes"

And did you? "No. TP is interpreting law incorrectly. I only agree that when a person is warned for first time, it must be written down"

"By that time LS had already been warned four times & this had been written down. I simply reminded him of his rights"

"If I find myself in the same situation I would do everything the same"

TP: I didn't sit around doing nothing this weekend, I went through everything. CP says he was never warned

 

[JudgeJudi]

Kathryn Kimberley‏ @KathrynReporter

You said you did warn him but nowhere did you say he refused to sign diary. "What does TP expect, me to break off his hand & sign for him?"

TP says Kanna should then have had a colleague sign his pocket book

TP says it's strange that on the one hand CP gave his full cooperation, but on the other hand he refused to sign pocket book

"In the beginning I didn't know why but now (it makes sense) why he didn't"

TP says this is once again Kanna's word against CP's

"Bosch, Eksteen & Till were also there"

 

[JudgeJudi]

Kathryn Kimberley‏ @KathrynReporter

KS says Price takes once sentence and hammers on it. There must be context.

TP: You told LS if he doesn't make those calls to CP, it's over. "But that's the truth. At that stage all the evidence was against LS"

"It was a reality. It's true at that stage there was no evidence against CP." Who offered for LS to be a state witness?

Kanna says it was LS's idea but he did not have the authority to make him a state witness

LS testified the idea to make calls came from cops. "At that stage, we had a strong case against LS, we could simply have charged him"

 

[JudgeJudi]

Kathryn Kimberley‏ @KathrynReporter

MS tries to interject. TP tells him to keep quiet

Kanna says LS was not prepared to take the fall for someone else. TP says the police wanted CP

Kanna asks TP to repeat the question. He tells Kanna to listen properly

He wants to know what else the police had against LS at that stage. "BB's statement also implicated him"

Kanna asks to see the statement to remind himself. TP says as the IO, Kanna should know exactly what the statement says

 

[JudgeJudi]

Kathryn Kimberley‏ @KathrynReporter

TP now reads from LS's testimony in court. "I don't think any reliance can be placed on what LS said"

TP tells Kanna not to shake his head

TP says LS insists MS & Kanna knew he was assaulted before he came to testify

TP: You told him not to tell judge about assault. You told him to get in the box & say statements are correct

TP asks if Kanna knows what tubing is. He answers no

Was no one ever tubed in your presence? "I take exception to that statement". TP tells Kanna he has good balance with chips on each shoulder

Kanna says CP answered 6 of the calls made to him by LS. TP says he can't count, CP only answered 3 times

Kanna suggests they go to itemized billing. We start with first time CP answered

A comment was made to LS during these calls. "This is what's going to loosen you up"

Kathryn Kimberley Retweeted
Doreen Loubser‏ @alzammer · 6m6 minutes ago
KS says Price is far removed from reality. Price is sick and tired of his comments. He has a job to do. KS apologises.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Kathryn Kimberley‏ @KathrynReporter

TP is now counting the calls made to CP

Kanna says in hindsight he can now see why CP didn't want to answer, he was the only person who could implicate him in the murder

During the calls, CP gave no indication that he knew what the calls were about. "But he also didn't tell him to get lost"

TP says CP & LS were good friends. He often gave him cash. "If a friend phoned me, saying he needs cash to get away, I wouldn't help"

LS tells CP he doesn't want to be arrested, never been arrested before

CP responds: "I don't know what that means Thando, I don't bru"

Kanna wants to read further. LS says: "you know this thing Chris"

CP responds that he doesn't know what to do

TP says the court must look at the fact that CP was called hours after his wife's funeral. They played on his emotions

TP says the other number used to phone LS belonged to a phone Donovan Vosloo gave him

TP says CP used another phone because he didn't want LS to bother him on his personal phone

TP: Why did you ask LS 'did we hit you today'? Kanna: It's important for me to have a good relationship with LS. It was a general question

 

[JudgeJudi]

Kathryn Kimberley‏ @KathrynReporter

TP: Did you get a reference number from DPP to go ahead with trap? "I trust the word of the DPP".

Court adjourns for lunch until 2:15pm