A murder trial should start anew before a different magistrate after the magistrate who dealt with the case committed an irregularity, the high court in Pietermaritzburg ruled on Friday.
When the case continued in October 2021, the prosecutor simply called the next witness without any reference to the trial within a trial.
The magistrate then stopped the proceedings as the defence argued that the failure to call the accused to testify during the trial within a trial was a gross irregularity necessitating the acquittal of the accused. “It was another irregularity when he failed to make a ruling on the trial within a trial, which is prejudicial to the accused as it affects his right to a fair trial,” Poyo-Dlwati said.
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