Mouton's missing docket turns up
Morné Mouton's freedom was short-lived. On Tuesday, his culpable homicide and drunken driving case was struck from the roll of the Windhoek Magistrate's Court because of a missing docket, leading to the withdrawal of the charges.
The missing docket was retrieved yesterday from the office of the court's prosecutor, Rowan van Wyk.
Mouton was accused of killing three people - City Police officer Manfred Gaoseb (35), Werner Simon (22) and teacher Joshua Ngenokesho - in a crash in Sam Nujoma Drive, Hochland Park on 4 July 2015. Another man and a female officer escaped unhurt when Mouton's car crashed into them.
Hans Tourob, the control prosecutor of lower courts in Windhoek, told Namibian Sun that they had issued a new summons yesterday morning for the case to be placed back on the court roll. The police were expected to serve the summons on Mouton by yesterday.
He is expected to go on trial on 14 October.
Tourob added that his office ordered Van Wyk to explain why the docket was not handed to the prosecutor assigned to the case.
“The incident has placed the State's case and the whole of the prosecution in a very bad light,” Tourob said.
The unavailability of the docket led to Magistrate Vanessa Stanley refusing to grant the State a postponement of the trial, which had been scheduled to start on Tuesday.
She said there had been many delays in the case, which had been on the court roll since July 2015.
She struck the case from the court roll when the prosecutor turned up for the trial without witnesses or a case docket.
Stanley emphasised that the State had ample time to get its house in order. According to her the State had the docket two weeks ago and was able to provide disclosure.
She found it unacceptable that the prosecution had waited until the trial date to inform the defence lawyers that the docket was missing and that no witnesses had been subpoenaed.
FRED GOEIEMAN
The missing docket was retrieved yesterday from the office of the court's prosecutor, Rowan van Wyk.
Mouton was accused of killing three people - City Police officer Manfred Gaoseb (35), Werner Simon (22) and teacher Joshua Ngenokesho - in a crash in Sam Nujoma Drive, Hochland Park on 4 July 2015. Another man and a female officer escaped unhurt when Mouton's car crashed into them.
Hans Tourob, the control prosecutor of lower courts in Windhoek, told Namibian Sun that they had issued a new summons yesterday morning for the case to be placed back on the court roll. The police were expected to serve the summons on Mouton by yesterday.
He is expected to go on trial on 14 October.
Tourob added that his office ordered Van Wyk to explain why the docket was not handed to the prosecutor assigned to the case.
“The incident has placed the State's case and the whole of the prosecution in a very bad light,” Tourob said.
The unavailability of the docket led to Magistrate Vanessa Stanley refusing to grant the State a postponement of the trial, which had been scheduled to start on Tuesday.
She said there had been many delays in the case, which had been on the court roll since July 2015.
She struck the case from the court roll when the prosecutor turned up for the trial without witnesses or a case docket.
Stanley emphasised that the State had ample time to get its house in order. According to her the State had the docket two weeks ago and was able to provide disclosure.
She found it unacceptable that the prosecution had waited until the trial date to inform the defence lawyers that the docket was missing and that no witnesses had been subpoenaed.
FRED GOEIEMAN
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