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/ 3 June 2008

Judgement reserved on Judge Motata video

The Pretoria High Court on Tuesday reserved judgement in an application by Judge Nkola John Motata to stop the state from playing five potentially incriminating video and audio recordings made at the scene of his car accident. Motata was charged with drunk driving and defeating the ends of justice after smashing his Jaguar.

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/ 15 November 2007

Motata on full pay while on trial

Pretoria High Court Judge Nkola Motata, on paid leave while on trial on a drunk-drinking charge, will have received more than R1-million when his case resumes next year. Moneyweb reported on Thursday that Motata is getting a full judge’s salary while on special leave.

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/ 13 November 2007

Magistrate puts foot down in Motata case

Pretoria Judge Nkola Motata’s application to temporarily block the Johannesburg magistrate’s court from listening to recordings of his alleged drunken diatribe, was turned down on Tuesday. Magistrate Desmond Nair said he would not allow the defence’s application to have his ruling on the matter sent to the high court for review.

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/ 13 November 2007

Drunk-driving trial postponed to 2008

The drunken-driving trial of Pretoria high court judge Nkola Motata has been postponed until July 2 2008 when it will proceed for a full month. The postponement of the case came after Nair turned down an application by the defence to temporarily block the court from listening to recordings of Motata’s alleged drunken diatribe.

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/ 8 November 2007

Defence demands postponement in Motata trial

The drunken-driving case of Judge Nkola Motata was on Thursday postponed to allow magistrate Desmond Nair to rule on whether the defence could submit a request for a high court review of one of his rulings. The ruling allowed the court to listen to recordings of Motata’s alleged drunken diatribes following a car accident earlier this year.

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/ 7 November 2007

Court to hear Motata recordings

Audio recordings of Pretoria High Court Judge Nkola Motata’s alleged drunken ranting following a car accident earlier this year will be heard in court in a bid to determine if they are reliable enough to be submitted as evidence, the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court ruled on Wednesday.

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/ 25 October 2007

Motata case: Trial within a trial allowed

A trial within a trial will be held to decide on the admissibility of certain evidence in the drunken-driving case of Pretoria High Court Judge Nkola Motata. ”I’m of the view that the objection by the defence for the state to tender evidence in the manner it requests is to be sustained,” Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court magistrate Desmond Nair ruled on Thursday.

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/ 2 October 2007

Motata defence fights to keep recordings out of court

Judge Nkola Motata’s legal team is doing everything to prevent the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court from listening to five recordings entered as evidence by the state. Defence attorney Danie Dorfling argued that allowing the court to hear the recordings, which are video recordings with no visuals, would deprive the accused of his constitutional right to a fair trial.

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/ 28 September 2007

Motata trial postponed

The drunken-driving trial of Pretoria High Court Judge Nkola Motata has been postponed to Tuesday to give his defence team time to consider its next move. Bantubonke Tokota told magistrate Desmond Nair on Friday that he and his colleagues wanted further consultation with experts on audio recordings that the state intended to present as evidence.

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/ 27 September 2007

Motata trial focuses on audio recordings

It was a day of wrangling over evidence in the drunken-driving trial of Judge Nkola Motata at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. The court adjourned on Thursday afternoon after prosecutor Zaais van Zyl attempted to enter five recordings made by Baird on his cellphone, allegedly of Motata using derogatory language.

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/ 27 September 2007

Cellphone recordings discussed at Motata trial

The state would try to admit cellphone audio and video recordings in the drunk-driving trial of Pretoria High Court judge Nkola Motata being heard in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. The recordings were made by Richard James Baird, into whose wall Motata allegedly crashed in Hurlingham, Johannesburg, on January 6.