Motata recordings admissible
2008-07-25 12:08
Johannesburg - Five cellphone recordings taken on the night of an alleged drunken driving accident involving Pretoria High Court Judge Nkola Motata are admissible as evidence, the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court ruled on Friday.
"I find that the hurdle in respect of authenticity and originality... quality and the potential to reflect the events as they relate to the incident has been passed," said Magistrate Desmond Nair.
"This court accepts the recordings from the laptop."
This ruling concluded a trial within a trial to determine if the recordings, taken on the night of January 6, 2007 when Motata crashed his Jaguar into the wall of a Hurlingham property, allegedly while drunk, were admissible.
The recordings were taken by the owner of the property Richard Baird.
Nair said the recordings were relevant to determining the sobriety and conduct of the judge on the night of the incident.
Manipulation
He said the recordings captured events free from manipulation. The defence's arguments that digital data like the recordings could easily be manipulated were not sufficient.
"That these digital recordings may be manipulated is not an issue. What is an issue is if these recordings were manipulated."
Nair said the defence would need to present a "more visible challenge" to the recordings if they wanted to prove this had been the case.
None of the witnesses contested the accuracy of the recordings and the accused had also chosen not to testify.
Nair said the trial within a trial had given Motata a fair chance to challenge the admissibility of the recordings.
"I'm satisfied, there are safeguards in place."
'Our law has to advance'
Nair said he would now treat the recordings like any other piece of evidence.
"I will be considering the recordings with the rest of the evidence and the door is opened for the defence to attack the recordings. The weight of the recordings would be determined at the end of the trial."
Nair said legally the original of the recordings was not needed in court. The recordings on the laptop were an "identical twin" to those on the cellphone.
He said that although digital data may need to be treated with caution "our law has to advance at the same pace as technology does".
The full trial is expected to resume on Wednesday.
- SAPA