A state witness in the sex-crimes trial of advocates Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo aroused suspicions from the defence on Tuesday when he appeared to become ”very hot”.
This happened while Prinsloo’s advocate, Piet Coetzee, was cross-examining Captain Carel Cornelius in the Pretoria High Court.
Coetzee made repeated references to Cornelius wiping his face with a handkerchief, saying the witness appeared to be ”very hot”.
Andre Fourie, for the state, objected and asked Coetzee to explain the relevance of his observations.
”It is obvious to me, that from all the people in court he is the only one perspiring so much,” Coetzee said.
At this point, Judge Essop Patel said he too found the courtroom very hot.
”I am already perspiring under this robe,” he told Coetzee.
The judge pointed out that people have different heat tolerance levels, and asked Coetzee to explain what he was trying to say.
”He is under stress,” Coetzee responded — at which the judge asked whether this was a scientific observation.
Patel said he could not appreciate the relevance or purpose of Coetzee’s remarks.
But Coetzee said he would argue in his closing remarks that Cornelius had appeared uncomfortable in the stand.
Police stand accused
Police investigating the crimes were accused in court on Tuesday with lying in sworn affidavits and overstepping their powers.
While cross-examining Cornelius, Coetzee intimated that police had lied in sworn affidavits used to obtain arrest and search warrants in the case.
The affidavits had apparently referred to the alleged sexual abuse of several minor girls at a time when police knew about only one alleged victim.
The sworn statements made mention of several children claiming to have been molested after being given an intoxicating drink, that pictures were taken of them naked, and that they were afraid of the couple. At that point in the investigation, however, a charge had been laid by only one girl.
Coetzee said Cornelius had signed the statements, made by a colleague of his.
He also accused Cornelius of overstepping his powers by cancelling some of the warrants obtained on the strength of these statements.
Only a magistrate could cancel a warrant, Coetzee said.
This meant that a search warrant ”cancelled” by Cornelius — and later replaced with a more expansive one — had actually been in place when police searched the couple’s home and seized an array of items.
The initial warrant had allowed investigators to seize only photos and photo negatives of minor girls. But police at the scene also seized pornographic videos and magazines, a variety of drugs, and pictures of sex scenes with adult women.
Coetzee further intimated that Cornelius had written up his own statement, involving a 14-year-old alleged victim, to make sure it contained all the necessary elements to prove a crime. An initial statement taken directly from the girl had been ”lost”, and the Cornelius statement was the only one in the police docket.
Cornelius told the court that the two statements were ”basically the same”.
Prinsloo and Visser are accused of a number of sexual violations of women and girls.
Visser, dubbed ”Advocate Barbie” for an apparent likeness to the blonde, busty plastic doll, faces 15 charges and Prinsloo 16.
Two of their alleged victims, a minor and a woman, have claimed they were raped after being drugged by the pair.
Other charges against them include four of indecent assault, three of enticing a minor to commit indecent acts, one each of fraud, sexual exploitation of a minor and possessing child pornography, two of manufacturing such material, and one of possessing dagga.
Four of their alleged victims were minors.
The couple is out on bail of R4 000 each. — Sapa