A magistrate has slammed continuous delays in a rape and murder trial that has barely kicked off after three years.
|||A magistrate has slammed continuous delays in a rape and murder trial that has barely kicked off after three years.
Magistrate Deon van Der Spuy on Tuesday accused the State of “gross negligence” and said the murder trial against the seven men accused of killing Cytheria Rex was “infested with leave”.
On Tuesday, the court heard that the State could potentiality call up 14 witnesses to testify against Imeraan Hendricks, 20, Virgil Sass, 19, Oswill Grootboom,20, Lee Cloete, 21, Rhonwen Rhode, 23, Warren Robertson, 23, and Keenan Lewis, 23.
However, the State only managed to call up two witnesses on Tuesday.
When Van der Spuy asked about the availability of the other witnesses, State Prosecutor Marco Chandler said at least three people were on leave.
The Blue Downs Magistrates’ court also heard that Chandler was standing in for another prosecutor who is currently on leave.
Chandler told Van der Spuy his colleague had applied for leave before the trial date was set. But Van Der Spuy didn’t take kindly to this, saying: “Dit lyk my hierdie saak is besmet met verlof, [It looks like this case is infested with leave].”
The seven are accused of the rape and murder of Cytheria, 18, in February 2008.
The teen’s half-naked body was found in a park in Fourth Avenue, Eikendal, by a passerby.
They appeared in the Blue Downs Regional Court on Tuesday on the second day of their trial despite being arrested in 2008.
Cytheria was stabbed 46 times and her stomach was sliced open.
It was also revealed in court that Chandler had not yet had a chance to consult with all the witnesses.
Sergeant Anneline Rex briefly took the witness stand and told the court the brother of one of the accused informed cops about the bloodied clothes at their house.
“Steve Cloete came to tell me there are some clothes at home I should come have a look at,” she said.
Rex said she went to the home of Lee Cloete where his mom handed her his white tracksuit pants wrapped in a plastic bag.
After a nearly two-hour delay, the State called up their second witness, Sergeant Marius Jaars.
Jaars told the court he went to the house of Accused Number One, Virgil Sass, where he saw blood on the wall.
But his time on the stand was cut short when he testified that he knew Sass was underage yet he questioned the boy without his parents’ consent.
The mother of Accused Number Seven, Theresa Grootboom, says the court should grant their sons bail because they have already spent three years in jail.
Why can’t they continue the trial while they are outside?” she tells the Daily Voice.
“None of them are a danger to society and they are all first-time offenders,” she says.
The case continues on Wednesday.
* This article was published in the Daily Voice
