Witwatersrand Local Division - 1983 September

2 judgments
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2 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
September 1983
Accused convicted of intentional murder on strong ballistic and eyewitness evidence; no mitigation found, death sentence imposed.
Criminal law – Murder – Intentional close-range shooting causing fatal cardiac tamponade – Ballistic linkage of recovered firearm to scene cartridge cases. Evidence – Credibility assessments – accused’s evasive, inconsistent testimony rejected; police and forensic witnesses accepted. Sentence – No mitigating circumstances found; death penalty imposed where law mandates in absence of mitigation.
12 September 1983
Confession to a magistrate under section 217 was admissible; funeral‑induced confessions were involuntary and excluded; accused convicted and sentenced to eight years.
Criminal law — Confession evidence — Voluntariness — Onus on State to prove confession free and voluntary; extrajudicial confessions induced by violence or threats are inadmissible. Criminal procedure — Section 217 Act 51 of 1977 — Written confession made to or confirmed in presence of a magistrate with interpreter certificate admissible and presumed free unless contrary proved. Evidence — Weight and corroboration — admissible confession to magistrate and post‑mortem findings sufficient to convict. Sentencing — Extenuating circumstances (no premeditation, age disparity) considered but brutality warranted custodial sentence.
1 September 1983