Lotz: Judge gets tough

2007-08-15 09:32

Marelize Barnard

Cape Town - "I have made an order. I have made an order."

With these words Judge Deon van Zyl cut short Fred van der Vyver's defence advocate in the Inge Lotz murder hearing.

In a tense moment in the Cape High Court, Van Zyl stated that Dup de Bruyn SC stop addressing him about the manipulation of a fingerprint, foil 1.

This followed after De Bruyn during the State's cross examination of the defence's first specialist witness, Pat Wertheim, who stated that it was not the defence's case that the foil was manipulated on March 17 2005, one day after Lotz's murder.

He also said Wertheim should be cross-examined accordingly.

"You may not address me about this again. I regard it as argument," said Van Zyl.

De Bruyn then wanted to know whether Van Zyl was making it an order, upon which the judge repeated that it was in fact the case. "As it pleases the court, Your Honour," De Bruyn answered.

Van Zyl then addressed the issue of the defence's case that there had been fraudulent manipulation. "The moment the words 'fraud' and 'intentional' are used, it becomes a very, very serious allegation and it must be fair.

"All I want to know is: Is this witness fair in his statements about this?" said Van Zyl.

In one of the most tense days of the hearing, which started in the high court on February 12, a lively cellphone tune in the public gallery upstairs helped relieve the tension.

After a woman had rushed to grab her cellphone and leave the court, Van Zyl looked up, smiled and said: "I hear music."

- Die Burger