Durban — The trial against a Hillcrest pensioner alleged to have shot and killed a 49-year-old father of two in a road rage incident last year was to resume on Thursday.
This is after it was adjourned on Wednesday in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court following the finalisation of the cross-examination of the first witness in the case.
The adjournment is due to the fact that the court could not accommodate the trial further on Wednesday due to the congested court roll.
Anthony Edward Ball, 67, is alleged to have killed Dean Charnley in an alleged road rage incident on Everton Road in Kloof in March last year.
At the time of the alleged shooting, the police said that they arrived on the scene to find a 49-year-old man with gunshot wounds to the chest.
Ball was granted R4 000 bail on March 22, when he first appeared in court following his arrest on March 19 after handing himself over to police.
On the day of the alleged shooting Charnley had been travelling with his son, Seth, who was 18 years old at the time.
Ball’s counsel, Advocate Gideon Scheltema SC, on Wednesday continued his cross-examination of State witness Jean Moolman.
“I'm going to argue that you are evasive and downplaying the aggression of the deceased,” said Scheltema. He had been questioning the witness over a statement made to the police that two shots were fired after Charnley had hit Ball’s white Subaru on the door with both hands, as opposed to his led evidence where he said that the first shot was fired before Charnley attacked Ball’s car.
Moolman stood fast on his evidence in chief, saying that the first shot was fired as Charnley approached Ball’s car shouting with both hands in the air, after which he walked away and the turned back and he hit “the door and roof panel with both hands”. That was when the second shot was fired, causing Charnley to fall on the ground.
“Yesterday you told the court how the deceased was walking away after the first shot. Did you mention that in your statement? Did you mention that fact in your statement? Would you agree that this is a very important part of your evidence? Why did you not mention to the police that at some point the deceased walked away? Perhaps you were not on the scene at all,” Scheltema said to the witness.
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