Jail for convicted perly kingpin Brown
Although he was not arrested with any perlemoen on him, damning evidence from state witnesses coupled with police testimony sealed the fate of convicted perlemoen poaching kingpin Julian Brown.
Brown was to spend his first night in prison, after being found guilty on charges of contravening the Marine Living Resources Act and racketeering, in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Tuesday.
Delivering his lengthy 144page judgment, judge Mandela Makaula said evidence led by the state, which included video footage and statements from five state witnesses, had proved beyond doubt that Brown, along with his two co-accused, had established and managed an extensive perlemoen poaching enterprise in the city from January 2015 to April 2016.
Brown, 32, and Brandon Turner, 38, were each found guilty on charges of racketeering and the contravention of the act, while their co-accused, Eugene Victor, 33, was convicted on a string of other charges, including forgery and defeating the ends of justice.
After the state closed its case in 2018, Brown’s defence counsel brought an application to have the charges against him withdrawn, claiming the state did not present evidence that Brown needed to answer to.
In his judgment, Makaula dismissed this argument while comprehensively detailing evidence before the court.
In his defence, Brown, who was the only one of the accused who chose to testify in his own defence at the end of the state’s case, challenged the legality of the arrests of poachers and other associates who worked for him.
He further challenged the legality of searches by police.
Makaula found that some searches were not conducted legitimately while others were.
Makaula rubbished claims that witnesses were “extorted” and forced to make claims against Brown.
When Brown was arrested in 2016 and his home searched, police found numerous bail receipts for some of the people who worked for him and had been arrested on charges of contravening the act.
Five of the people who worked for Brown turned state witness, including Victor’s brother-in-law, Renier Ellerbeck.
After his April 2015 arrest, Ellerbeck decided on his own to “tell it all” about the poaching activities, Makaula found.
“[The state] witnesses mostly corroborated each others’ evidence [and] Ellerbeck gave credible evidence.
“There was no evidence that [state] witnesses colluded with police against [Brown].
“The evidence was strong enough to warrant conviction,” Makaula said.
After they were convicted, the defence attorney for Brown and Turner, Alwyn Griebenow, asked the court to extend the bail for the two men until their next court appearance. Makaula denied this.
Sentencing proceedings are due to begin on Wednesday.