140915OPJudgment

CC113/2013-mb 3297 JUDGMENT
2014-09-11
were in bed. Ms van der Merwe was in and out of sleep. Mr Johnson,
Ms Burger as well as Dr and Ms Stipp were aroused out of sleep by
either screams or what sounded like shots. Ms Burger described it as a
confusing night while Dr Stipp got his times clearly wrong. It was not
disputed that Dr Stipp heard the first sounds, heard screaming or
shouting, heard the second sound, went to the accused’s house and
assisted Mr Stander to call 911 in that order.
Counsel for the defence submitted correctly that the evidence of
Dr Stipp was unreliable as to the times when different events in this
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matter unfolded. He submitted further that Dr Stipp’s evidence in some
instances was tailored with the objective of assisting the state’s
allegation. I do not agree with this submission. Dr Stipp had no interest
in the matter and would therefore have no reason to tailor his evidence
to assist the state. I do not believe that he coloured his evidence against
the accused.
On the contrary, he showed no bias against him. He told this
court that when he arrived at the accused’s house he observed a
destroyed accused attempting to resuscitate the deceased. That he was
praying to God to save the deceased, that as soon as the accused
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learnt that he was a doctor he employed him to do something. When
asked if he thought the accused’s distress appeared genuine to him, he
did not hesitate to respond positively. The facts above have been set
out to demonstrate the difficult terrain that this court had to traverse to
arrive at its conclusion.
It follows from the above that it would be unwise to rely on any
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