The Van Breda triple murder trial was postponed this morning until Monday, 11 September 2017.
Today we were due to hear from the State’s blood splatter expert, who was originally scheduled to appear last week in court, but the witness is still recovering from an illness and could not make an appearance.
In light of this, the State called for another postponement, to which Advocate Botha from the Defence argued that they are incurring unforseen costs from these postponements and that his client is running out of funds.
Adv B: we have incurred the cost of flying our witness here and he has changed his schedules @CapeTownEtc #vanbreda
— Tracey Stewart (@Traceyams) August 21, 2017
B: we have incurred these costs, we can’t recuperate, my client is running out of funds, we have other matters too @CapeTownEtc #vanbreda
— Tracey Stewart (@Traceyams) August 21, 2017
B: while it is not the states fault he has fallen ill it is also not my clients fault #vanbreda
— Tracey Stewart (@Traceyams) August 21, 2017
Judge Desai called for a brief postponement to consider the State’s application for a postponement – which had been opposed by the Defence. He declared that it is not the State’s fault to find themselves in this position, nor the fact that this is a high-profile case to affect the rights of the accused Henri van Breda.
The trial has been postponed until September 11th, 2017 and the accused’s bail extended.
Desai: Matter is postponed to 11 September 2017, Henri’s bail is extended @CapeTownEtc #vanbreda
— Tracey Stewart (@Traceyams) August 21, 2017
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Photography K-leigh Siebritz / HM Images
