Rohde trial halted as psychiatrist’s report rejected

THE Jason Rohde murder trial was abruptly adjourned in the Cape Town High Court yesterday after Rohde’s counsel complained that it had been “contaminated”.

This was after Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe dismissed a report by defence witness Dr Larissa Panieri-Peter‚ a specialist forensic psychiatrist.

Salie-Hlophe ruled that there was no need for Panieri-Peter to be cross-examined by the state as her report relied on anonymously sourced information.

On Monday‚ Panieri-Peter handed in a 43-page report based on a psychiatric assessment she had conducted on Rohde in 2016 as well as a “psychological autopsy” on his wife‚ Susan.

But yesterday, SalieHlophe said the court would not attach any weight to the report.

Rohde’s counsel‚ Graham van der Spuy‚ objected to the court’s decision.

“The court has ruled that this witness cannot be examined‚” Van der Spuy said.

“The court has acted grossly irregularly with this ruling . . . the trial has been contaminated as a result.”

He asked for an adjournment to draft “a special entry application”. But prosecutor Louis van Niekerk said the court had acted within the law “up to now. [This ruling] does not call for such an entry”.

Salie-Hlophe noted the objection.

Rohde‚ the former chief executive of Lew Geffen/ Sotheby’s International Realty‚ is accused of killing Susan at the Spier wine estate outside Stellenbosch in July 2016. She was found dead with the cord of a hair iron around her neck behind the locked bathroom door of the couple’s room.

The businessman is also charged with obstructing the administration of justice by making Susan’s death look like a suicide. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Rohde was referred to Panieri-Peter in September 2016 for an independent psychiatric evaluation.

In her report‚ Panieri-Peter said it appeared that there had been “a significant change in [Susan’s] appearance and behaviour prior to her death”. – TimesLIVE