Joslin Smith Trial: Defence Lawyer Claims Client Was Asleep During Confession to Police, SA Laughs
- A defence lawyer in the Joslin Smith case maintained that her client was asleep when police took his confession
- Advocate Nobahle Mkabayi used video evidence to show her client’s eyes closed while he was talking to the police
- Judge Nathan Erasmus warned Mkabayi that her questions were misleading and not in line with the footage
Source: Getty Images
Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent ten years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.
WESTERN CAPE – Judge Nathan Erasmus has berated a defence lawyer in the Joslin Smith case for insisting that her client was asleep when the police took a statement from him.
Advocate Nobahle Mkabayi, the defence lawyer for Steveno van Rhyn, maintained that her client was asleep when the police took a confession from him.
The admissibility of the confession is being decided in a trial-within-a-trial phase of the case, as van Rhyn and Jacquin Appollis claimed they were tortured into giving a false confession to the police.
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Judge says lawyer’s assertions are misleading
During proceedings on Thursday, 10 April, Mkabayi put to Captain Philip Seekooi that her client was asleep while his statement was being taken. Using portions of the video recording of the event in March 2024, Mkabayi focused on specific moments in which her client’s eyes were closed.
Many of those moments lasted between seven and 11 seconds. She also tried to put to the detective that van Rhyn was asleep during moments he could be seen and heard responding to Seekooi’s questions.
Judge Erasmus quickly shut down her assertions, saying that they were misleading and not in line with the footage. Erasmus then asked for more of the video to be played, saying that it was clear her client was awake.
He continued to remind her to take the clips in context and not focus in on a few seconds at a time to suit her narrative.
Source: Getty Images
What you need to know about the Joslin Smith trial
Lourencia Lombaard claimed that a sangoma wanted Joslin for her eyes and skin
Defence lawyer Fanie Erasmus picked holes in Lombaard’s testimony during cross-examination
Advocate Rinesh Sivnarain accused Lombaard of being the mastermind behind Joslin’s disappearance
Gayton McKenzie accuses the Saldanha Bay Mayor of being involved in Joslin Smith’s disappearance
A State witness denied that Appollis and van Rhyn were assaulted by police officers
Social media users unhappy with Mkabayi
It wasn’t just the judge who was tired of Mkabayi’s questions, as South Africans on social media trolled her online for some of her points in court.
Heather Krieger laughed:
“For 7 seconds. The judge is no fool🤣.”
Brenda Adams asked:
“What is this woman trying to prove? What doesn't she understand about wrapping up this case?”
Daniele Geldenhuys said:
“Mkabayi is dragging this case. How can you take a statement from a sleeping person? She's not right in her mind. That accused first said he fell from his friend’s bakkie.”
Vivienne Alexander Swartz questioned:
“Did he then sleep when he opened the bottle of water and drank it, or how does that work?”
Ruby Titus added:
“This lawyer is something else. I don't know how she interprets things or comes up with arguments.”
Lynray Martin said:
“What rubbish. Clearly, she didn't think before she made such a ridiculous statement. Embarrassing coming from a lawyer. Eish 🤣😂.”
Van Rhyn claims police provided him with false confession
Briefly News reported that van Rhyn claimed he was tortured by police into making a false confession.
Van Rhyn, who is one of the accused in the Joslin Smith trial, also claimed that police told him what to say.
Detective Dawid Johannes Fortuin denied the claims and questioned why van Rhyn didn't tell him if that was the case.
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Source: Briefly News
