Lawyers 'dance' in court as they try to prove attacker caused Henri van Breda's wounds

24 May 2017 - 18:25 By Tanya Farber
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Henri van Breda arrives at the Cape Town High Court with a new haircut on the day in which a photo of a hand holding a strand of hair was said by the defence to be too long to be Henri's.
Henri van Breda arrives at the Cape Town High Court with a new haircut on the day in which a photo of a hand holding a strand of hair was said by the defence to be too long to be Henri's.
Image: RUVAN BOSHOFF

Henri van Breda watched on Wednesday as his defence team imitated in court how an alleged attacker‚ and not Van Breda himself‚ produced “parallel‚ uniform and equidistant” cuts on his forearm.

Holding a ruler as a prop for the knife‚ Botha asked his colleague Matthys Combrink to take part in the demonstration‚ which had the victim holding the wrist of the attacker as he flicked the knife against his arm.

But forensic pathologist Jacobus Dempers wasn’t convinced. Asked by Botha if this was a plausible explanation for Van Breda’s cuts‚ Dempers responded: “No‚ because they are perfectly parallel and equidistant.

“You do it like on television — a perfectly controlled dance. But the chances of those four scratches in real life coming from a fight‚ I say in my professional opinion ‘no’. You never see that in fights.”

  • Emergency doctor testifies Van Breda’s wounds were ‘superficial’An emergency doctor has confirmed what was heard in the High Court in Cape Town last week: triple axe murder Henri van Breda's wounds were "superficial" and did not require stitches‚ and he had no signs of a concussion.

He then told Judge Siraj Desai: “I can show you the pictures in the book of self-inflicted wounds. They look exactly like this. The chances are negligible it happened like that‚ unless held completely dead still.”

He also said it was not possible that the knife had stayed in Van Breda's flesh and that Van Breda had to pull it out of himself‚ as alleged in his plea statement.

He detailed an experiment in which he held the flesh of a pig completely still. The 50-gram knife stayed in for a maximum of three seconds‚ he said‚ but any movement made it fall out immediately.

  • Van Breda axe trial witnesses suffer own ordealImagine these words: "If you're upset by bullying tactics and loud voices, stay out of this courtroom."

Earlier‚ Dempers said Van Breda's wounds “conform almost exactly to what the literature describes for self-inflicted wounds ... I find it extremely hard to believe an assailant tried to cause grievous bodily harm to Henri van Breda‚ and that‚ if he did‚ he didn’t flinch when it happened.”

The pathologist provided poignant detail of how Van Breda’s mother‚ Teresa‚ and brother‚ Rudi‚ may have tried to fend off their attacker with their hands before being hit on the head with an axe at the family home in Stellenbosch.

“The deceased all had similar wounds — lacerations and skull injuries‚ and incised injuries. Rudi van Breda and Teresa van Breda also had what could have been defensive wounds on their thumbs as they had tried to shield themselves against their attacker‚” he said.

In contrast‚ Van Breda had no defensive wounds.

  • Van Breda 'may have injured himself'Henri van Breda's defence counsel accused the prosecution of an "ambush" yesterday over a pathologist's evidence that cuts on the axe murder accused's body were likely to have been self-inflicted.

Self-inflicted wounds done for motives of gain were not common said Dempers‚ “but are well-described in the literature”.

Textbooks went into details of “parallel superficial incisions‚ grouped together‚ on the non-dominant side (usually the left as most people are right-handed).”

They also typically occurred in areas that were less sensitive‚ and when people were standing still.

Asked by Botha if it was possible Van Breda’s wounds were not self-inflicted‚ he said scientists were reluctant to exclude something flat-out but a good comparison would be this: “If you ask if someone could have survived a stab to the heart‚ I might say‚ ‘yes‚ he could have‚ but only if he was attacked right outside the operating theatre and there was a surgeon right there ready to operate on him”.

  • Van Breda’s defence counsel accuses prosecution of ‘ambush’Henri van Breda’s defence counsel accused the prosecution of an “ambush” on Thursday over a pathologist’s evidence that cuts on the axe murder accused’s body were likely to have been self-inflicted.

An objection first thing in the morning almost saw the trial halted. Over two years ago‚ Van Breda gave a statement to the police after his family had been axed to death in January 2015 but late on Tuesday his defence counsel approached the state to say the statement was “inadmissible”.

In his plea statement‚ Van Breda claimed he was badgered by Colonel Deon Beneke‚ who told him he “didn’t believe a word of [his] bullshit story”‚ and that he was not told he had the right to legal representation or the right to remain silent.

Botha said Dempers’ forthcoming testimony relied heavily on the statement Van Breda gave to police. Desai adjourned court‚ and when the trial resumed Dempers’ report was presented but with several areas blacked out.

When the case resumes on Thursday autopsy reports will be presented‚ then a trial-within-a-trial will begin to determine if Van Breda’s statement to police is admissible.

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