Cape Town - Murder accused Corrine Jackson, 20, caused a stir at Mitchells Plain Magistrate's Court on Thursday when attorney William Booth showed up to defend her.
Jackson is accused of stabbing her girlfriend, Nadine Esterhuizen, 18, and attempting to cut her head off at a residence in Colorado Park on 27 September 2017.
During her previous appearance, lawyer Sylvester Vogel informed the court that Jackson had hired a new lawyer to represent her and on Thursday she was expected to get a regional court date when Jackson’s trial is set to begin.
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Her bail application in December was denied.
But Booth shocked Esterhuizen’s family when he announced that Jackson planned to appeal the outcome of her bail hearing in the Western Cape High Court.
“We have arranged a regional court date for 13 June, I just wanted to record that a bail application appeal will be launched shortly at the high court,” he said as people gasped in the gallery.
File picture: Henk Kruger/ANA
Magistrate Alwira Bezuidenhout postponed the matter to June 13.
Outside court a woman identified as Esterhuizen’s mother screamed and cried as relatives helped her walk down the stairs.
“Corinne! You won’t get out! No matter what lawyer you get!” she shouted.
Lynne Phillips of the Mitchells Plain Community Police Forum (CPF) says they will continue to oppose Jackson’s bail.
“As the CPF, we will still oppose the bail because of how that girl died and how many times she was stabbed. She [Jackson] is young and she can still be rehabilitated inside and we hope that she will realise what she did.”
Police found Jackson in possession of two knives inside a locked toilet on the day of the murder. She told the court she acted in self-defence.