Jayde: state tactics slated
Lawyer challenges cellphone evidence in Panayiotou trial
THE Panayiotou murder trial was delayed yesterday with the lawyer for the alleged hitmen challenging the way in which the state opted to present its cellphone evidence, calling the prosecution’s tactics unconstitutional.
State advocate Marius Stander wanted the Port Elizabeth High Court to receive the evidence in terms of Section 15(4) of the Electronics Communications and Transactions Act, which shifts the onus onto the accused to prove the information is incorrect.
Peter Daubermann argued that his clients – alleged hitman Sinethemba Nemembe and coconspirator Zolani Sibeko – would be severely prejudiced should the court accept the evidence in this manner.
Daubermann says the state should bear the onus to prove the information is 100% correct.
The state is relying heavily on cellphone records and plotting to prove its case against Nemembe and Sibeko.
Up until now, the focus has predominantly been on Port Elizabeth businessman Christopher Panayiotou, 30.
It is alleged Panayiotou hired hitmen to kidnap and kill his wife, Jayde, 29, on April 21 2015.
On Wednesday, after the court viewed an incriminating secret video recording between Panayiotou and “middleman” Luthando Siyoni, the prosecution’s focus shifted to Nemembe and Sibeko.
Stander says he plans to call experts from service providers MTN and Vodacom, as well as national cellphone sleuth Thereza May Botha.
Their evidence, he hopes, will paint a picture of how surveillance of Jayde’s whereabouts was carried out, and ultimately the events on the day that she was murdered. Stander said cellphone evidence placed Nemembe and now deceased alleged hitman Sizwezakhe Vumazonke at the place where Jayde was executed.
Daubermann, meanwhile, said yesterday that the defence did not have access to the equipment used to put the cellphone evidence together and therefore it would be difficult for them to prove that the records were incorrect.
Judge Dayalin Chetty will give his ruling on Monday.
THIS week The Herald was among the media houses which released the secret recording in which murder accused Christopher Panayiotou chats to self-confessed middleman Luthando Siyoni shortly after the murder of Panayiotou’s wife, Jayde.
The media are often accused of sensationalising the news and feeding the public’s hunger for a quick fix of hard-hitting headlines.
However, this is a sensational video and after its release on Wednesday it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that Christopher Panayiotou may be one of the most reviled men in this city.
What adds to this is that 10 years ago a video like this would only have been shown to those in court and gone no further.
The media simply did not have the technology to disseminate as fast or as widely.
Today, however, a video can be shared with an exponentially large number of people within hours.
The Panayiotou video has gone viral.
To a layman, the video appears immensely incriminating. We ask you, though, to bear in mind that these are the same laymen who accuse the legal system of granting bail to murderers for a few hundred rand while keeping a petty thief accused of stealing sweets and a tin of deodorant behind bars while waiting for his trial.
The legal fraternity must despair at our ignorance in failing to understand how the justice system works.
We must all be mindful that the court will be taking a far cooler look at the evidence than the public.
Judge Dyalin Chetty in particular will give a measured and informed response, no matter how long it may take to reach a decision.
Trial by Twitter may feed the hunger for juicy snippets of news but it does not – and should not – lead to convictions or acquittals. Like it or not, that is how trials now unfold in South Africa.
Our plea today therefore is: please respect the judiciary. Allow the legal professionals – and that includes prosecution, defence and judge – to do their jobs.