Durban — The defence in the road rage murder trial has asked the court for more time to prepare for the finalisation of its cross-examination of a State witness who is the son of the deceased.
Anthony Edward Ball’s counsel, advocate Gideon Scheltema SC, asked the court to adjourn the further cross-examination of Seth Charnley to Thursday this week, saying the defence might need to go to the scene of the shooting.
Ball is on trial in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court for the alleged murder of Dean Charnley, who was shot and killed in Everton Road in Kloof last year.
Seth is the State’s second witness to have taken the stand and so far the court has heard evidence that Ball had blocked Charnley from overtaking him on the M13 more than once.
Also, Charnley managed to overtake Ball when they got to the Everton off-ramp and that was when he stopped his Nissan, forcing Ball to bring his Subaru to a halt.
The State witnesses said Charnley approached the Subaru shouting, and a gunshot rang out. Charnley hit Ball’s car with his hands and a second gunshot went off, hitting Charnley.
Ball has pleaded not guilty. In a statement for his not guilty plea he said that the first gunshot had been a warning. However, according to him, it saw Charnley trying to disarm him through an open window. He opened the door and tried to pull Ball from his Subaru.
Ball said the fatal gunshot had gone off inadvertently during a scuffle.
Last Thursday, Scheltema began cross-examining Seth who had been a passenger in the Nissan – which belongs to him – on that day.
He pushed Seth into admitting that his father had been accelerating as he approached the Subaru from behind. He put it to Seth that the Subaru had been driven according to the rules of the road and in accordance with the speed limit.
“So before he (Charnley) applied his brakes, you were approaching with speed and you expected this vehicle to get out the way. With respect to your father, he must have become impatient, wanting to get past this vehicle at all costs. How impatient did your dad become when he could not get past this vehicle, you agree he was impatient …
“So your father decided to cut the Subaru off before you got to the traffic light (on Everton Road). Cars come up that incline quite fast and there's a blind corner. I suggest your dad brought the Nissan to a standstill where it would have posed a danger to most road users coming up the M13. Do you agree?”
Under cross-examination, Seth said he did not know whether the second shot came through the window or door of the Subaru.
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