Zuma's defence 'compromised'

2006-03-28 14:40

Johannesburg - Jacob Zuma's legal team believes his defence was compromised by his accuser's refusal to be assessed by one of its psychologists.

"The state had Dr (Merle) Friedman assess her and she co-operated fully with Dr Friedman... we were denied an opportunity," Zuma's lawyer Kemp J Kemp told the court.

He conceded that the complainant had the right to refuse, but believed her refusal to make evidence available to the defence must "enter the picture".

This affected its ability to cross-examine her.

The State had put considerable store on Friedman's evidence of "freezing", Kemp argued, referring to Friedman's explanation of why the woman did not resist the alleged rape.

In a case like this, the psychological state of mind was clearly an issue.

"It is no different to when one is denied access to a witness statement."

Policemen

Kemp also argued that earlier testimony by two policemen on Zuma's alleged pointing out of the guestroom as the crime scene, should be ruled as inadmissible.

The woman claims to have been raped in the guestroom of Zuma's Johannesburg home, but Zuma maintains they had consensual sex in his bedroom.

Gauteng head of detective services, commissioner Norman Taioe, has told the court that when he arrived at Zuma's Johannesburg home and asked Zuma to point out the scene of the alleged crime, Zuma pointed to the guestroom.

Kemp believed this testimony should be inadmissible because Zuma was not read his rights when the police arrived.

Zuma's lawyer, who was present at the time, had denied the pointing out.

Kemp disagreed with Taioe that reading of rights to Zuma in Nkandla still applied in Johannesburg.

If Taioe had followed basic procedure and included this exchange in his police report, there would be no disputes, Kemp told the court.

Zuma is alleged to have raped a family friend at his Johannesburg home on November 2 last year.

Kemp has applied for the discharge of the case against Zuma.

- SAPA