THE Pinetown Magistrate’s Court once again saw the tear-stained faces of Jennifer King’s family who were left disappointed with yet another delay in the expected trial of the man accused of killing the Kloof grandmother in January 2019.

Jennifer King was found dead in her Forest Hills home in the early hours of Saturday, 12 January by her daughter.

ALSO READ: Jenny King murder investigation continues

The delays have also caused frustration for the man who is facing charges of alleged murder.

In November last year both the family of Jen, as King was best known to many of her friends, and musician and murder accused, Charlie Ridgway, expressed satisfaction when the case was transferred to the Regional Court for trial.

ALSO READ:  Murder of Kloof grandmother: Regional court trial date set

Ridgway’s attorney, Paula Dos Santos, said on November 7 that she was delighted that the matter was finally proceeding to the trial stage.

“This is exactly the outcome we hoped for today,” said Dos Santos when the Highway Mail spoke to her and Ridgway after they left the F court where earlier appearances by Ridgway had taken place before Magistrate Gwendolyn Robinson.

However, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson for KZN, Natasha Kara confirmed to the Highway Mail that the case had been postponed.

“The matter was postponed to 24 April for defence to collate information for their participation in the pre-trial conference,” said Kara.

What this means is all parties have another few months of waiting before anything further takes place.

Asked for clarity about the term “pre-trial” which, prior to 2016, used to most often only be used for civil cases in the High Court, Kara confirmed that all matters in South African courts have a pre-trial conference.

What does that mean?

According to the judicial rules as amended in 2017, no matter can go on to trial until it has been dealt with in a pre-trial conference to ensure there is no further delay once the trial itself begins.

The Criminal practice directives (number 3) for the regional courts in South Africa (2017, 5th Revision) states the following:

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“In compliance with paragraph 5.2.4 of the Norms and Standards dealing with judicial case flow management, no matter may be enrolled for trial unless certified trial-ready by a court.

3.1 Prior to certifying the case as trial ready a court must have conducted a pre-trial hearing during the court proceedings. ”

The directives also stipulates in point 3.2 what issues need to be considered and addressed in this pre-trial hearing.

So basically there will be far more time for the families and friends of both Jennifer King and Charlie Ridgway before the state and the defence will present their cases in what many understand when they hear the term, “court case” or “criminal prosecution.”

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