Sex trial: Nude pics protest
2005-01-27 14:55
Pretoria - Pictures showing naked an ex-wife, girlfriends and friends of Pretoria advocate Dirk Prinsloo should not be allowed as evidence, the Pretoria High Court heard on Thursday.
The State sought to introduce as evidence in the sex crimes trial a photo album with about 300 pictures which it claimed contained 12 photos of Prinsloo's lover, Cezanne Visser, committing sexual acts with two minor girls.
But defence counsel Piet Coetzee objected to the album in its entirety, saying all photos, except for the 12, were irrelevant.
They were pictures of Prinsloo's ex-wife, Visser, and "other friends and girlfriends" naked, he told the court.
They were taken with the consent of all parties, did not constitute a crime, and the State had no permission to seize them in the first place, Coetzee said.
Right to privacy
"The only reason the State wants to hand in these pictures is for public sensation."
Coetzee said the 12 pictures allegedly depicting minor girls could not be submitted as evidence until the State had led expert evidence that they were indeed underage.
He argued that the seizure of the album infringed his client's right to human dignity, privacy, and freedom of association.
"His right to associate in privacy with other people got infringed.
"If I had a photo of myself naked, which I don't, it is mine and not for the world to see," Coetzee said.
Visser's counsel, Gerhard Botha, supported the objection saying the State had no right to seize the rest of the photos in the album because they did not constitute child pornography.
Botha also argued that the State had not been entitled to keep the album and other exhibits seized from the couple's home after charges against them were dropped in July 2003.
They were re-arrested a few days later, but Botha said no new search warrant or permission to prosecute was ever issued.
Exhibit 'in it's entirety'
Prosecutor Andre Fourie told the court the album was an exhibit in its entirety. The State had no intention of identifying any of the persons in the pictures not relevant to the case.
On the State's argument, the album contained child pornography and was therefore rightfully seized.
Fourie said the accused's rights had to be balanced with other rights. If the accused's rights weighed more heavily, "it would be difficult to do any kind of a criminal trial, because in some or other way any trial will infringe upon the rights of an accused".
The court also heard on Thursday that Visser had been prepared to testify against Prinsloo in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
She told investigators shortly after her arrest that Prinsloo had manipulated her into committing the crimes, and was prepared to make a sworn statement.
This never transpired, testified captain Carel Cornelius, the original investigating officer in the case.
On Wednesday, Cornelius testified that pictures of naked children, footage of bestiality, and quantities of the so-called date rape drug Rohypnol were among items found in the couple's Raslouw house during their arrest.
Porn 'exhibited'
Two of the complainants in the case, a minor girl and a woman, claimed they were raped after being sedated by the pair.
Cornelius testified that "a large quantity" of pornographic videos was found in several rooms. Pornographic magazines opened on pages depicting explicit sex acts were found "exhibited" in the main bedroom.
Visser, dubbed "Advocate Barbie" for an apparent likeness to the busty, blonde plastic doll, faces 15 charges and Prinsloo 16.
They are out on bail of R4 000 each.
The pair faces two counts of rape, four of indecent assault, three of enticing a minor to commit indecent acts, one each of fraud, sexual exploitation of a minor and possessing child pornography, two of manufacturing such material, and one of possessing dagga.
Prinsloo is also charged with assaulting one of the complainants.
- SAPA