The sex crimes trial of Pretoria advocates Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo is not to be used as a forum to discredit the police investigation, a Pretoria High Court judge warned on Wednesday.
Judge Essop Patel questioned the relevance of questions put by the defence to investigating officer Captain Carel Cornelius about the conduct of police during the couple’s arrest.
”This is not a civil trial dealing with the lawfulness or unlawfulness of police conduct,” he told defence advocate Piet Coetzee.
If Coetzee wants to argue irregular police action, there are other means of doing that — including a trial within a trial, Patel said.
He expressed concern that the defence is attempting to use the trial as a stage to discredit the police’s search and seizure at the couple’s Raslouw, Pretoria, home in December 2002.
”That is not what the case is about,” the judge said.
Patel questioned the relevance of questions posed to Cornelius about a firearm belonging to Prinsloo that went missing on the day of his arrest.
Police who searched their house could not find the gun, which was discovered under Prinsloo’s bed pillow by a maid the next day.
Coetzee intimated that police might have removed the firearm and returned it after Prinsloo laid charges.
On Tuesday, the defence accused police probing the case of lying, bungling, overstepping their powers and sensationalising the case through the media.
Coetzee also accused Cornelius of botching a part of the investigation when he examined six computer disks seized from the couple’s home, in the process compromising the disks.
One allegedly contained child pornography.
Coetzee charged Cornelius with overstepping his powers by cancelling some of the arrest-and-search warrants, saying only a magistrate’s could perform this function.
Prinsloo and Visser stand 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.
The pair face two charges of rape, 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.
Prinsloo faces an additional charge of assaulting one of the complainants.
The couple are out on bail of R4 000 each. — Sapa