The State on Friday slammed the defence for trying to bring up the identity parade issue after its case was closed, at the bail application of murder-accused businessmen, Ferrel and Darren Govender.
The Govenders are charged with the murder of Shailen Singh, who was killed at Meridian Drive in uMhlanga on December 29, 2024, while in his Toyota Hilux.
During an identity parade, a State eyewitness did not point to Ferrel as the shooter or someone who was at the crime scene on the fateful day.
Senior attorney Ravindra Maniklall read a replying affidavit of Ferrel, and said it was worth noting that an additional mysterious witness surfaced after the identification parade where he was not pointed out.
He said Warrant Officer Kumarasan Bob Pillay, the investigating officer in this matter, was never informed of a witness who identified him by name anywhere in the vicinity of the shooting.
Maniklall said it was not clear what happened at the identity parade. “We expected the State to be forthcoming with that information. Tell the court what exactly happened. They have documentation that they could submit to the court it should be made available,” he said.
Senior attorney Carl van Der Merwe agreed with Maniklall, and said: “Were any other people pointed out during the identity parade as this is crucial for the defence. Because if other persons were pointed out, it’s essential for the court to know.”
The State objected to this, saying the affidavit of Pillay was clear about the identity parade and that the court had dealt with this and made a ruling that it was happy with the State.
“The court has made a ruling already. Why are we going back now? They (the defence) waited for the State to close its case so that they could go back again. It’s disrespectful to this court to bring this argument of Section 60 when the court has made its ruling. We are all court officers here and we understand what a court ruling is or what it means,” said senior public prosecutor Nkululeko Msiya.
Msiya said the defence realised that they were not going to win, and now they are trying to bring back an application. He urged the court to deny the defence’s application.
The counsels argued about this for some time. The court said it was now happy with this. “This identity parade could have been raised in different ways, I’m not happy with this manner,” said Magistrate K Broughton.
Magistrate Broughton said the State’s affidavit was not flimsy. “I’m satisfied that there is comprehensive evidence before the court. The court would be able to decide once arguments are done,” he said.
Moreover, Ferrel said he was waiting for the police to take him to his apartment to get his firearm and that had not happened. He questioned the authenticity of the videos and audio brought by the State to court against him.
The media was not allowed to sit in, watch, and listen to the videos and audio. However, the State had said there was a seven-minute-long audio recording of Ferrel threatening a State witness.
Darren said Pillay’s evidence was based on hearsay. He said the data retrieved from the cellphones was unconstitutionally obtained.
The matter was postponed to January 27 for arguments and judgment.