Video clips deleted from a cellphone being used in the case against murder accused Molemo “Jub Jub” Maarohanye and Themba Tshabalala had seriously compromised the evidence, digital forensic expert Riana Smalberger said at the Protea Magistrate’s Court in Soweto on Monday.
Smalberger took to the witness stand for a second time to give a full report of a forensic analysis she had conducted on the video filmed on the afternoon in question by State witness Ntokozo Mahlangu.
One of the clips shows two Mini Cooper cars being driven by the two accused along Mdlalose Street in Protea North.
Last week, Smalberger had told the court that 12 video clips had been taken between 3.50pm and 4.06pm by Mahlangu’s Samsung E250 cellphone, 10 of which had been subsequently deleted.
Two videos remained – one was viewable and another was a thumbnail and not viewable.
Mahlangu had previously admitted before the court that she had deleted some of the videos she had taken as they were personal in nature.
On Monday, Maarohanye’s advocate, Ike Motloung, asked Smalberger: “This court has heard evidence that when police wanted to confiscate the witness’s cellphone, they allowed the owner to delete material he or she wanted, and at some point, they (police) went to some shop to have the cellphone opened. What is your comment?”
Smalberger answered: “My comment would be that evidence was seriously compromised… there should have been a proper handover and documentation of that material. Electronic evidence needs to be handled the same way as DNA evidence.”
Smalberger, however, made it clear that she could not say whether evidence had been tampered with, only that forensically it was wrong to delete the clips, as one could lose crucial evidence on the phone.
Motloung continued: “Evidence the court heard is that the reason why the clip is short as it is, is that whoever took it ran out of space.”
Smalberger replied: “It is impossible to run out of space because it is clear there were other recordings taken.”
She said she had been unable to view the video files that had been deleted.
“This court has heard evidence from an expert that once a video recording is done, no one can manipulate its speed or tamper with audio. What would be your comment to that?” Motloung asked.
Smalberger responded: “Last week it was put to me that there was no editing tool for this device (E250 Samsung), but through my research, I found that there is such a device.”
It has been alleged that Maarohanye and Tshabalala were drag racing along the street in Protea North on March 8, 2010 when their cars careered into a group of schoolchildren, killing four and leaving two severely brain damaged.
They face charges of murder, attempted murder and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
The case will continue on July 13.
The Star