/ 18 November 2010

Agliotti defence: ‘Wrong man in wrong box’

Agliotti Defence: 'wrong Man In Wrong Box'

Murder-accused Glenn Agliotti’s defence on Thursday maintained that the “wrong man was in the wrong box” for the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble.

This was in response to the state’s argument that their star witness, security boss Clinton Nassif, did not “crack” in the witness box under cross examination. “He wasn’t cracked, they’re right, he was obliterated,” said defence counsel Advocate Laurance Hodes SC.

He questioned how the state could lead a witness who offered plea agreements to others without first consulting the prosecution.

He added that Nassif’s willingness to enter into a plea agreement was a sign of his guilt.

“Is it not the wrong man in the wrong box,” he asked again, repeating a comment he made earlier in the trial.

The state argued that determining whether Agliotti had received a fair trial should be done once proceedings had concluded.

“Nothing can be further from the truth,” Hodes responded.

“This sounds like some kind of quote from Alice in Wonderland,” he said in response to the state’s heads of argument.

Hodes had applied for a discharge in terms of section 174 of the Criminal Procedures Act, which says that if at the close of the state’s case, the court finds that there was no evidence that he committed the offence, he could be acquitted.

Financial motive
Meanwhile, the state argued that Agliotti had a financial motive to kill Kebble, the South Gauteng High Court heard.

He read from the state’s heads of argument and meticulously attempted to rubbish their arguments by referring to the court records.

“It is further submitted that there is a motive on the part of the accused to have Brett killed because Brett wanted his R12-million back from accused,” Hodes read from the state’s heads of argument.

“This was confirmed by both Minnaar [Kebble’s butler Andrew Minnaar] and [Steven] Saunders [security boss Clinton Nassif’s business partner] and was not disputed. There was no allegation that Minnaar and Sanders had conspired on this version,” he continued.

Hodes dismissed this as false.

He added that it was “contradictory” for the state to contend that the murder was “premeditated” and not an assisted suicide as the latter was stated in the state’s own indictment.

“What is the state’s case … assisted suicide or premeditated murder … they’ll do anything to incriminate him.”

Agliotti is facing four charges, one of murder, one charge of attempted murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder.

The murder charge relates to the September 2005 Kebble shooting in Athol, northern Johannesburg.

He is also accused of conspiring to kill Alan Gray auditor Stephen Mildenhall, Jean Daniel Nortier, Dr Mark Bristow and Mark Wellesley Woods.

The attempted murder charge relates to the shooting of Mildenhall in Cape Town in August 2005. — Sapa