Court OKs Motata tapes

2008-06-11 15:20

Pretoria - The State will be able to play five audio recordings - made at the scene of Judge Nkola John Motata's car accident in January last year - when his drunk driving trial resumes next month.

This follows a Pretoria High Court ruling on Wednesday, dismissing Motata's application to stop the disputed recordings from being played during a trial-within-a-trial to test their admissibility.

Motata, who is presently on paid leave, was charged with drunk driving and defeating the ends of justice after smashing his Jaguar into the wall of a Hurlingham, Johannesburg property.

He denied guilt in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court, where his trial is due to resume on July 2.

The disputed recordings were made by the property's owner, businessman Richard Baird, on an I-Mate cellphone, which he claimed was now broken. He downloaded the clips onto his computer directly after the incident.

'Grossly irregular'

A digital camera, with which Baird allegedly also took photos at the scene of the accident, was allegedly stolen early in September last year.

Motata wanted the magistrate to continue with the trial-within-a-trial without the recordings being played.

He claimed the magistrate's ruling in this regard had been "grossly irregular" and that he would be severely prejudiced and denied a fair trial if the recordings were played before a ruling had been made on their admissibility.

The prosecution opposed the application, saying Motata was trying to dictate to the State how to go about proving its case and to prevent relevant evidence from being presented in his trial.

High Court Judges SPB Hancke and JD Pickering, however, said they were satisfied the magistrate was indeed obliged to listen to the recordings in order to determine their authenticity.

"The various witnesses, including Mr Baird, will be afforded the opportunity of testifying as to whether or not the recording accurately portrays the events," the judges ruled.

- SAPA