Yengeni’s blood under legal microscope

Cape Town 160212- Tony Yengeni taking pictures of Photographer Cindy Waxa outside magistrate court. He appeared for the drunk and driving case.m Picture Cindy Waxa.Reporter Caryn

Cape Town 160212- Tony Yengeni taking pictures of Photographer Cindy Waxa outside magistrate court. He appeared for the drunk and driving case.m Picture Cindy Waxa.Reporter Caryn

Published Feb 13, 2016

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Cape Town - The results of a blood test and the contents of a police note book were placed in the spotlight on Friday during the drunk-driving trial of ANC national executive committee member Tony Yengeni.

Yengeni is accused of having driven while under the influence of alcohol in August 2013. He was pulled over in his Maserati in Green Point and it was reported at the time that he was three times over the legal limit.

During Friday’s proceedings in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, it emerged that the State had obtained a result from blood tests done on Yengeni.

The results were not read out.

Read:  Procedural clashes halt Yengeni trial

Prosecutor Leon Snyman said a state worker qualified in chemistry had done the tests and compiled the report.

He asked the court to provisionally accept the report into evidence.

Snyman said while he did not question the result, he had reservations about the calibration used to get to the result.

“I need to prove it beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.

He and defence lawyer Dirk Uijs were given time to prepare arguments, to be heard next month, on whether the report detailing the results should be allowed to form part of the court record.

The authenticity of some evidence was also in focus on Friday.

Steyn said there were questions about whether some of what was contained in a Metro Police officer’s pocketbook had been manufactured.

The note book in question was used by Sergeant Jonas Gomba, whose pullnig over of Yengeni led to his arrest.

 

Yesterday Jean Hesqua, a Metro Police superintendent, said she was responsible for managing sergeants.

On the evening of Yengeni’s arrest, Gomba had been on night shift, she said.

In response to Snyman’s question of whether she knew of any witnesses in the case having been influenced to say anything to incriminate Yengeni, she replied she did not.

 

Melvyn Loggenstein, a Metro Police constable, testified he had been in charge of taking in full note books and issuing new ones.

Both processes involved him signing, date stamping and writing out his staff number in the book.

If returned notebooks were removed from a safe room, this was recorded.

Loggenstein testified that on December 14 last year there was a record relating to Gomba and the book.

“Gomba booked out the pocket book to submit to court,” he said.

Steyn said it was alleged false information had been added to the book between December 11 last year, the day before the record showed the notebook being checked out by Gomba, and January 18, the date Gomba testified in the trial.

Both Hesqua and Gomba are expected to be cross-examined when the trial, postponed to next month, resumed.

 

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