The date for the continuation of Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride’s drunken-driving trial will be decided on September 1, the Pretoria Regional Court said on Monday.
McBride, wearing a black pinstriped suit, appeared briefly in the court, where magistrate Peet Johnson said the matter will be provisionally adjourned to September 1.
”On September 1 the magistrate will decide what further trial dates need to be set,” said advocate Roshan Dehal.
These dates will be determined pending the outcome of McBride’s application to the Pretoria High Court to allow access to statements made by witnesses — Itumeleng Koko, Stanley Sagathevan and Patrick Johnson — that might implicate him in other criminal cases.
The state has said in papers that McBride may be a suspect in other investigations, ranging from attempted murder to defeating the ends of justice and fraud, but that these dockets are unrelated to his drunken-driving case. McBride has said he needs these dockets to adequately prepare his defence.
Acting for McBride, advocate Jimmy Howse said heads of argument will be filed at the high court by August 18. The high court is only expected to review the matter on September 8. However, an earlier date might be possible.
The Pretoria Regional Court has twice turned down applications by McBride’s legal team to force the state to hand over the statements. Magistrate Johnson earlier said that to grant access to the statements would lead to an absurdity and the law will not allow this.
McBride has pleaded not guilty to charges of defeating the ends of justice, fraud and of driving under the influence of alcohol relating to a car accident in Centurion, Pretoria, in December 2006.
In previous proceedings, McBride’s legal team argued that not having the documents that Koko, Sagathevan and Johnson submitted to police affects his right to adequately prepare a defence. His team argues that he is entitled to find out why the three state witnesses changed their original statements that had indicated McBride’s innocence.
It is argued that even if the statements are not directly related to the drunken-driving case, they might indicate what pressure police had put on the witnesses to change their statements against McBride. — Sapa