Cape Town - The murder trial of slain “steroid king” Brian Wainstein has been plunged into a trial-within-a-trial amid contentions by alleged Sexy Boys gang boss, Jerome “Donkie” Booysen, that the interception of his communications were unlawful.
The ruling for the trial-within-atrial made by Judge Vincent Saldanha in the Western Cape High Court yesterday, comes amid an objection by Booysen’s legal team, who have contended the admissibility of the evidence, saying it formed part of a different trial and was obtained unlawfully.
Booysen, along with slain businessman Mark Lifman, is charged for allegedly arranging the hit and face other related charges surrounding the murder. Booysen’s defence lawyer, Advocate Amanda Nel, voiced objections this week as the State sought to present information obtained by the Hawks during the interception of calls between Lifman, Booysen and Andre Naude.
This came during a testimony by a retired Hawks detective who took the stand and outlined surveillance carried out on some of the accused during April 2017.
Nel argued that the information obtained during the interception was not relevant to the murder trial but instead stemmed from an application dating back to 2014, where the Hawks obtained information about alleged drug sales.
She highlighted that the original application cited the names of Lifman, Booysen and Kenneth Hansen, and related instead to a completely different criminal trial, which has not yet commenced.
During proceedings yesterday, the State argued that the interception of Booysen’s phone was lawful and agreed to proceed with the trial-within-a-trial while the main trial is being put on hold.
Judge Saldanha gave a comprehensive overview of the applicable laws and how an individual’s Constitutional right to privacy may not be breached without strict guidelines as prescribed by applicable laws.
Legal teams will now go head-to -head to argue for and against the inclusion of the calls in the main trial.
mahira.duval@inl
Cape Argus