Cape Town - It seems like an everyday occurrence: a knock against a co-worker in a doorway. But for one woman, it resulted in a criminal conviction and sentence for common assault that the Western Cape High Court has now set aside on appeal.
Judge Siraj Desai, sitting with Judge Nathan Erasmus, who agreed with him, found that the conviction could not be supported. He also asked the prosecutor to bring the matter to the attention of the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape to ensure that such “trivial” matters didn’t clog up the criminal courts.
Daurelle Everts was convicted of common assault in the magistrate’s court in Cape Town about three years ago, and was “cautioned and discharged”.
This came after Everts and a co-worker at the provincial government walked through the same doorway and Everts knocked against her co-worker, who was the complainant in the matter, with her elbow.
This also resulted in harsh words between them.
The incident took place a few months after the relationship between the two women had soured.
Judge Desai said the complainant pursued the incident with disciplinary charges against Everts and while this initially succeeded, it was overturned on appeal.
She also initiated criminal charges against Everts, which Judge Desai described as displaying a “high degree of vindictiveness” on the complainant’s part.
The judge further said that the complainant, who was pregnant at the time, had alleged that she had acquired a lump. The medical certificate, however, was “very unclear” and simply reflected that the complainant’s doctor was aware of an injury - not that he had actually seen it.
Judge Desai said that it was unlikely that a single knock in a doorway would result in a significant lump.
The magistrate had found in favour of the complainant when it came to her version, and further made a finding that the complainant’s version was “more probable”.
But Judge Desai said that, at best for the State, both versions - Everts conceded that she had bumped or brushed against the other woman, but contended that it hadn’t been done intentionally - were equally probable.
He said the magistrate was unaware, or at least forgot, that in a criminal trial the State must prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. “This is a patent misdirection,” he added.
Everts’s appeal succeeded, with the high court bench setting aside her conviction and sentence. It could easily have been resolved in a less “hostile and adversarial” manner, said Judge Desai.
He also said the matter should not have landed up in the criminal court, let alone on appeal. “Prosecutors and magistrates must ensure that ordinary people are not unnecessarily exposed to the rigours of the criminal justice system with its attendant costs, discomfort and humiliation.”
Cape Times