Defence wants judge to recuse himself
IN A BIZARRE twist, the defence team representing murder accused Christopher Panayiotou have indicated that they will bring an application for Judge Dayalin Chetty to recuse himself.
Advocate Terry Price, for Panayiotou, yesterday said he would bring the application based on his “client not having a fair trial”.
Earlier, a video recording in which Panayiotou allegedly implicated himself in his wife’s murder was ruled admissible by Judge Chetty.
Subsequent to the ruling, Price pulled out all the stops in asking the court to adjourn the matter until next month.
“At the moment, I am blind and I am litigating in the dark; we need to take advice. I cannot proceed at the moment,” Price said. “I’m not looking for sympathy. It took me two weeks to draft those heads of argument and they have just been thatched past your lordship. They obviously didn’t mean a thing, and that is worrying to me. So I am asking you from the bottom of my heart, please allow me to properly prepare.”
Price indicated that the defence team would now want to rope in advocate Dup de Bruyn SC.
Panayiotou’s lawyers said they did not know how to proceed.
Price was adamant Panayiotou had not been enjoying a fair trial, adding that the defence were overruled at every opportunity, even coming at Judge Chetty for not providing reasons as to why he ruled the undercover police sting operation admissible.
“I am not obliged to give reasons at a trial-within-a-trial,” Judge Chetty told him. But Price retorted that the judge could be mistaken.