Judgement will be heard on the following seating in an assault case which happened last year.
Ms Elizabeth van Meyren alleged that on February 26, 2015 that she was assaulted by Mr Gerhard Pretorius. According to her statement Pretorius allegedly assaulted her with both open hands and closed fists, he also strangled her.
Pretorius’ trial is expected to conclude on September 23 when Magistrate Ernst du Plooy passes judgement after taking into consideration the evidence against the man as well as the exhibits brought before the court.
In the defence’s argument on September 8, it was questioned whether or not the woman sustained injuries as the argument put before court in defence was that the photos of the injuries were only taken four days after the incident occurred. And in that space of time the complainant could have been assaulted or injured by other means.
In the state’s case it was made clear that the reason being for the delay in the photographic evidence was in that the complainant was only able to return to the doctor that Friday to obtain a J88 (doctors medical certificate of injury) a requirement for the photos to be taken as part of evidence, which then only took place after the weekend.
It was also argued that the documents were legitimate and that Van Meyren’s injuries were not self inflicted as the defence suggested in a previous argument.
“The complainant was honest in her testimony and the state has proven beyond reasonable doubt that the accused be found guilty of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm,” said Roxanne Truebody, public prosecutor.
The case was then postponed to September 23, Magistrate Du Plooy said in closing he would consider evidence before making his final decision on judgement.
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