Van Breda trial delayed for a month
Postponement follows appeal over ruling on media order
DE ZALZE Golf Estate murder accused Henri van Breda, 22, will have another month before he stands trial, after the case was delayed till April 24.
Yesterday, Van Breda made a brief appearance before Judge Siraj Desai at the Western Cape High Court. He was due to stand trial for the murder of his parents and his older brother in the family’s luxury De Zalze estate home in Stellenbosch in January 2015.
Arriving at the courtroom, packed with journalists and amid flashes from cellphone cameras, Van Breda appeared to be very calm dressed in a navy blue suit with his hair neatly slicked to the side. He was escorted to the dock by court orderlies who told people in the gallery not to take any photographs.
State prosecutor Susan Galloway requested that the trial be postponed following an appeal on a media order regarding live broadcasting, which was granted, only to be suspended later in court.
Galloway said: “There is an appeal pending on whether the public need to be privy to the totality of the court.
“We also want the court to afford us the chance to consult our witnesses on the media order. Some said they don’t want to speak with the cameras recording, others have fear. We need to find out if they object and what are those objections,” she said.
Defence lawyer Pieter Botha agreed to the postponement based on evidence that has not yet been viewed by the defence.
“There are DNAs of the weapon taken twice, which we have not seen. Also there are electronic photographs that we have requested, of the scene, that we have not received.”
Botha said it would not be fair for him to advise his client to plead when he has not viewed all the evidence.
Judge Desai, before granting the postponement, cautioned both the State and defence not to delay the trial.
“This is the first day of a potentially long and complicated trial. I appeal to all parties to ensure prompt conclusion of this trial. This trial shows the confidence of the public in the courts. I intend to uphold it. The trial will run as it should be,” he said.
Earlier, Judge Desai ruled that video clips of the murder trial may be broadcast, with an exception that Marli van Breda’s testimony be note-recorded – written comments only. But the ruling was suspended after both the State and defence teams opposed it.
Botha requested leave to appeal against Judge Desai’s ruling to allow the media to broadcast in court.
“The applicants knew the trial would be on March 27. They procrastinated and waited till the 11th hour. We understand the media are anxious, but there are fair-trial rights. It is because of them that we are in this position,” said Botha.
State prosecutor Hilton Epstein agreed that fair-trial rights must prevail.
Judge Desai said the State and defence were “generating a lot of noise”.
“There are no real prospects of jeopardising. We live in a society that’s more open than before. Some people’s thumbs work faster than the message can be relayed on television,” he noted.
To which Epstein responded: “They (referring to the media) can continue with Twitter or sending messages.”
Epstein said that despite the flexibility of the order, the public was going to view the court proceedings in compartments.
He suggested the order be postponed and that the criminal trial continue without cameras.