The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial takes another turn on Monday as the defence for four of the accused requested a trial within a trial during the morning’s proceedings.
Advocate Malesela Teffo wants the Pretoria High Court to first deal with the alleged confessions obtained by the state from accused 1 and 2.
Teffo has filed a special plea, which is used to demonstrate that there is an error in the particulars of a charge.
The defence argues that because the confessions were obtained under duress, the arrest of all five men may have been legally flawed or irregular.
Tweet from SABC Digital News Senior producer, Sipho Kekana:
My clients “were left with no choice but to write and depose a confession. Also, they allowed themselves, in so far as accused 1 is concerned, (to be) taken to an address he didn’t know, to say I will point where I was and where accused 2 was” – Teffo. #SABCNews #SenzoMeyiwatrial pic.twitter.com/t84R2WVx9j
— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) June 6, 2022
The proceedings were halted as legal representatives met with the presiding officer in chambers.
The state informed the court that it had received papers from the defense regarding the special plea.
The case was delayed early Friday because the state’s first witness, forensic officer Sgt Thabo Mosia, became ill.
Mosia has been testifying about the forensic and physical evidence he gathered at the scene of the soccer star’s shooting in 2014.
Questions have been raised about how the crime scene was handled.
Monday morning update from the Senzo Meyiwa Murder trial:
