The trial of alleged sex-pest pastor Timothy Omotoso is expected to continue in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Monday after the matter was postponed pending the outcome of Omotoso’s petition to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
This after Omotoso and his two co-accused Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho legal representative attorney Peter Daubermann indicated to the court the trio's intention to petition the SCA after their application for leave to appeal judge Irma Schoeman’s decision to allow the trial to be heard in Port Elizabeth was dismissed by the judge.
In August Daubermann argued that Schoeman did not have the jurisdiction to hear all 97 charges against the three as some of the alleged offences took place in other parts of the country.
Daubermann claimed that the authorisation certificate to centralise the case was invalid and lacked vital information including details of the alleged offences.
In dismissing the application Schoeman said the directive was suffice and was in line with the provisions set out in the Criminal Procedures Act in that it listed the names of the accused and the charges against them, among other reasons.
Omotoso, Sulani and Zitho face 63 main charges and 34 alternative charges ranging from human trafficking, rape and sexual assault.
Neither of them have pleaded.
Alleged sex-pest pastor Timothy Omotoso due back in court
Image: Eugene Coetzee
The trial of alleged sex-pest pastor Timothy Omotoso is expected to continue in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Monday after the matter was postponed pending the outcome of Omotoso’s petition to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
This after Omotoso and his two co-accused Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho legal representative attorney Peter Daubermann indicated to the court the trio's intention to petition the SCA after their application for leave to appeal judge Irma Schoeman’s decision to allow the trial to be heard in Port Elizabeth was dismissed by the judge.
In August Daubermann argued that Schoeman did not have the jurisdiction to hear all 97 charges against the three as some of the alleged offences took place in other parts of the country.
Daubermann claimed that the authorisation certificate to centralise the case was invalid and lacked vital information including details of the alleged offences.
In dismissing the application Schoeman said the directive was suffice and was in line with the provisions set out in the Criminal Procedures Act in that it listed the names of the accused and the charges against them, among other reasons.
Omotoso, Sulani and Zitho face 63 main charges and 34 alternative charges ranging from human trafficking, rape and sexual assault.
Neither of them have pleaded.
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