The State has been told to reopen its case against Johan Crous, the driver responsible for a woman’s death on the M3 in Cape Town.
|||Cape Town - The Director of Public Prosecutions has instructed the State to reopen its case against Johan Crous, the driver responsible for 24-year-old Lauren Devine’s death on the M3 four years ago.
Crous, of Hout Bay, was expected to be sentenced in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday but the case could not go ahead because prosecutor CJ Turner was occupied in another trial in the Wynberg Regional Court.
Turner had also e-mailed Crous’s lawyer, Keith Gess, and magistrate Heather Paulse saying she had received an instruction from the director of public prosecutions to reopen the State’s case and lead evidence in aggravation of sentence.
Devine died when Crous’s car crashed into a guardrail on the M3 on August 23, 2008.
A rock, or similar object, was dislodged and smashed through her windscreen. She sustained a 90mm laceration to her head and inhaled blood. She died minutes later. Crous was convicted of culpable homicide on July 11.
The State called Lauren’s mother, Alison Devine, to testify in aggravation of sentence last week. Gess told the court of the emotional and financial stress his client was under since the start of the trial.
On Tuesday, Gess told the court Turner’s absence was an inconvenience adding that the defence would object to the State’s request to reopen its case. If the State’s application is granted, David Frost, deputy director of road safety in the province, will be called to testify.
Statistical evidence is expected to be led before Paulse decides on a suitable sentence. Gess said he had received an e-mail from Turner in which she said she received the instruction from the director of public prosecutions to lead evidence in the form of statistics. Paulse granted the postponement. Crous return to court on October 29.
jade.witten@inl.co.za
Cape Argus