Shrien Dewani murder case thrown out by South African judge

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-30375335



A judge has dismissed the case against Shrien Dewani, who was accused of arranging the murder of his wife Anni in South Africa.

Judge Jeanette Traverso said the evidence presented by the prosecution fell "far below the threshold" of what a reasonable court could convict on.

She said the evidence of the prosecution's main witness, taxi driver Zola Tongo, was "riddled with contradictions" and "highly debatable".

Mr Dewani will now be released.

Announcing her ruling, the judge said: "The accused is found not guilty of this charge."

She said the only reason not to grant the application would be in the hope that Mr Dewani would implicate himself if he gave evidence .

But to do so would be a "manifest misdirection", she said.

Mr Dewani, from Bristol, was extradited to South Africa this year to face trial accused of planning the murder of his wife in November 2010.

He listened intently as key evidence against him was criticised by the judge as she gave her ruling over almost three hours.

Mr Dewani, 34, went straight down to the cells to prepare for his release, following the decision, as his family embraced.

Mrs Dewani's family, who had said it would it be a "nightmare" if the trial did not continue, immediately left the court room.

They bowed their heads amid shouting from the public gallery.
'Lies and inconsistencies'
In a statement read outside the Western Cape High Court, the Hindocha family said: "We feel really, really sad because we have not heard the full story. Shrien lived a double life."

Mrs Dewani's brother, Anish Hindocha, had last week implored Mr Dewani to "tell the world what happened the night she died".

But the judge ruled it was not necessary for him to give evidence, saying a defendant was entitled to be discharged if there was no possibility of conviction unless he entered the witness box and incriminated himself.

The judge said the evidence from the three criminals already convicted over Mrs Dewani's murder was "so improbable, with so many mistakes, lies and inconsistencies you cannot see where the lies ended and the truth begins".

Dewani, 34, has always denied plotting with others to murder his bride, who was found shot dead in the back of their taxi after the couple was hijacked during a late-night tour of a township.

Prosecutors said bisexual Mr Dewani had long planned to get out of the relationship to Swedish-raised Anni, and arranged the attack in which he would escape unharmed and Anni would be killed

@sallypelt wrote:
Mrs * * * * brother, * * * , had last week implored Mr * * * * to "tell the world what happened the night she died".
But the judge ruled it was not necessary for him to give evidence, saying a defendant was entitled to be discharged if there was no possibility of conviction unless he entered the witness box and incriminated himself.
The judge said the evidence from the three criminals already convicted over * * * * murder was "so improbable, with so many mistakes, lies and inconsistencies you cannot see where the lies ended and the truth begins".

Change the names and you could almost be talking about another case.

@PeterMac wrote:

@sallypelt wrote:
Mrs * * * * brother, * * * , had last week implored Mr * * * * to "tell the world what happened the night she died".
But the judge ruled it was not necessary for him to give evidence, saying a defendant was entitled to be discharged if there was no possibility of conviction unless he entered the witness box and incriminated himself.
The judge said the evidence from the three criminals already convicted over * * * * murder was "so improbable, with so many mistakes, lies and inconsistencies you cannot see where the lies ended and the truth begins".

Change the names and you could almost be talking about another case.

Another sad day for the justice system here and I cannot for the life of me understand this judges thinking ? Why has it taken all this time for him to think of an excuse as to why the money (that Dewani left in taxi to be payment for the job). He never reported the money stolen or being taken !!! Only now he says it was payment to the Taxi driver for a helicopter trip...........but the concierge at the Cape Grace would have arranged all that. What a feeble excuse and the judge falls for it .
Clearly another case of money talks !!!

MONEY,MONEY MONEY,played a big roll in this,disgusting.

Her family will try to get him prosecuted in the UK
.
Swedish newspaper today.
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article19985291.ab
Use the translation buttom If u don't understand.

@NickE wrote:Her family will try to get him prosecuted in the UK
.
Swedish newspaper today.
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article19985291.ab
Use the translation buttom If u don't understand.

NickE where is the translation button ?

hmm ok.
Translated with Bing.

Shrien Dewani acquitted for the murder of his wife Anni Dewani Swedish.

According to the Court of Justice in South Africa is the Prosecutor's evidence was "far below" the level required for a conviction.

– The world will never know what really happened, writes Nandita Uncle Ashok Hindocha said in a message to Aftonbladet




Anni Dewani, 28, was shot dead at her from Mariestad honeymoon in South Africa.

It was in november 2010 as the couple's car was hijacked by two men outside Cape Town.

The two men disappeared with her husband Shrien Dewani and left the car and taxi driver behind him; the car was found a few hours later with Teddy dead body in the couple was to be married. in 16 days.

Three men were sentenced to long prison terms for having carried out the murder.

Chauffeur testified against her husband

The British businessman Shrien Dewani was accused of having staged the robbery and ordered the murder of his Swedish wife. One of the convicted men, Zola Tonga, testified during the trial that the 2010 British earned him 15,000 dollars on the day the couple arrived in South Africa to hire some to kill his wife.

Shrien Dewani in South African now free Court, writes the news agency AFP.

According to judge Jeannette Traverso is the Prosecutor's argument "well below" the level required for a conviction.

A large media Posse met Anni Dewanis family after the Court's ruling.

"We came here to find the truth but we have been left with so many unanswered questions. The knowledge that I will never know what happened to my dear little sister will haunt me, my family and my parents for the rest of our lives, said Randy's sister, according to Daily Mail.

Refused to leave the United Kingdom

Dewani has been suspected of murder, incitement to murder and contempt of court. It is unclear if he was also acquitted of charges of contempt of court.

Dewani has previously cited health reasons to avoid being extradited from the United Kingdom, but lost the fight in april and was flown to Cape Town, where he had been under psychiatric care for alleged post-traumatic stress.

The trial against him commenced October 6.

Anni Dewanis family has expressed frustration with the lengthy process, which they likened to "four years of pure torture".

– Anni was a beloved daughter, sister, sibling, cousin, aunt, daughter and friend. She gave love to the people around her and we will always remember her for her beautiful smile that could light up an entire room, her uncle, Ashok Hindocha writes in an e-mail to the newspaper Aftonbladet.

"Will haunt us"

They feel that Shrien Dewanis defense are inadequate and that the Court omitted important details during the trial.

– South Africa, United Kingdom and other parts of the world who followed the case will never get to know what really happened, writes Ashok Hindocha.

The family will now examine the possibilities to bring charges against Shrien Dewani in United Kingdom.

– T. G. parents will always carry magical memories of his daughter, but the memories are colored by the painful fact that they never had a finish.

@PeterMac wrote:

@sallypelt wrote:
Mrs * * * * brother, * * * , had last week implored Mr * * * * to "tell the world what happened the night she died".
But the judge ruled it was not necessary for him to give evidence, saying a defendant was entitled to be discharged if there was no possibility of conviction unless he entered the witness box and incriminated himself.
The judge said the evidence from the three criminals already convicted over * * * * murder was "so improbable, with so many mistakes, lies and inconsistencies you cannot see where the lies ended and the truth begins".

Change the names and you could almost be talking about another case.

I thought the same, and that is a worrying summing up!

His defense played a clever game and it paid off, he walked.

All long he denied he was gay, right up the the opening minute of the trial.

his team knew the prosecution would bring up his sexuality as a motive for having his wife killed, and, given his culture, it was a big no no.

Knowing this, the defense decided they would pull the rug from under the prosecutions feet by having him admit , albeit minimising, hi sexuality.

rather than admit he was homosexual with no interest of any kind in women (plus it would also show why he cancelled his first engagement) they minimised it to him being bisexual, (though i would like to know if he has had sex with a woman or even got to first or second base with one)

At a stroke, it meant all the evidence which pointed to his sexuality and thus a whopping big motive for murder was stopped dead.
His previous male lovers, the texts, the visiting of gay dating. contact sites was  ruled irrelevant and thus not heard nor open to cross examination.

It meant that Anni who it is clear had learned of his sexual orientation would tell not only her family but his family as well and the resultant shame etc that would come from  him being outed.
It also meant she would likely sue him for divorce ( although how that would work out since they weren't legally married AFAIK).
It also meant that should she walk away, both he and his family would be liable to repay a huge chunk of money to her family for the cost of the wedding.

Him being outed would bring cultural shame on his family and also would result in a large payout  to Anni and her family.

By admitting to being bisexual, he pretty much  ended a huge chunk of the prosecutions case, he and his team stopped a huge part of the motive being introduced and cross examined.
Given this, it was not unexpected the case would fail since legally there was no motive.

His motives were shame  to himself and his family for being gay and he had to stop that happening.
Being gay was his dirty little secret.
There was the money side of things - he could face a huge payout for the cost of the wedding and also compensation to Anni ( also likely a payoff to keep her quiet about his sexual preferences)

Sex and money are pretty big motives.
Take them away and there was only the words of those who did the deed.

He knew he was safe when his defense team said he would take the stand, promised he would take the stand to explain everything away.
They knew without the sex and money motives the case would be tossed.

The CCTV was incriminating in that given the guy was the driver in the taxi that his wife was driven off in and subsequently murdered, why would he  contact the guy and pay him money owed?

Normal and expected behavior would be you wouldn't pay money owed, you would be demanding the police arrest the guy.

Even his initial statements as revealed by independant witnesses showed he was deceptive.

His suit was immaculate, not dirty or ruffled or messy as if dragged out a car and thrown into the dust.
His inital words to a witness were polite and showed no haste or anger or fear.

Shrien dewani arranged for his wife to be murdered so he could continue with his seedy lifestyle.

I just hope her family can  file a civil suit against him.

Since SA has double jeopardy, he could now stand and declare his guilt, his involvement and he could not be retried.

If he does, he would wait until any civil suit had been dealt with.

@Hobs wrote:His defense played a clever game and it paid off, he walked.

All long he denied he was gay, right up the the opening minute of the trial.

his team knew the prosecution would bring up his sexuality as a motive for having his wife killed, and, given his culture, it was a big no no.

Knowing this, the defense decided they would pull the rug from under the prosecutions feet by having him admit , albeit minimising, hi sexuality.

rather than admit he was homosexual with no interest of any kind in women (plus it would also show why he cancelled his first engagement) they minimised it to him being bisexual, (though i would like to know if he has had sex with a woman or even got to first or second base with one)

At a stroke, it meant all the evidence which pointed to his sexuality and thus a whopping big motive for murder was stopped dead.
His previous male lovers, the texts, the visiting of gay dating. contact sites was  ruled irrelevant and thus not heard nor open to cross examination.

It meant that Anni who it is clear had learned of his sexual orientation would tell not only her family but his family as well and the resultant shame etc that would come from  him being outed.
It also meant she would likely sue him for divorce ( although how that would work out since they weren't legally married AFAIK).
It also meant that should she walk away, both he and his family would be liable to repay a huge chunk of money to her family for the cost of the wedding.

Him being outed would bring cultural shame on his family and also would result in a large payout  to Anni and her family.

By admitting to being bisexual, he pretty much  ended a huge chunk of the prosecutions case, he and his team stopped a huge part of the motive being introduced and cross examined.
Given this, it was not unexpected the case would fail since legally there was no motive.

His motives were shame  to himself and his family for being gay and he had to stop that happening.
Being gay was his dirty little secret.
There was the money side of things - he could face a huge payout for the cost of the wedding and also compensation to Anni ( also likely a payoff to keep her quiet about his sexual preferences)

Sex and money are pretty big motives.
Take them away and there was only the words of those who did the deed.

He knew he was safe when his defense team said he would take the stand, promised he would take the stand to explain everything away.
They knew without the sex and money motives the case would be tossed.

The CCTV was incriminating in that given the guy was the driver in the taxi that his wife was driven off in and subsequently murdered, why would he  contact the guy and pay him money owed?

Normal and expected behavior would be you wouldn't pay money owed, you would be demanding the police arrest the guy.

Even his initial statements as revealed by independant witnesses showed he was deceptive.

His suit was immaculate, not dirty or ruffled or messy as if dragged out a car and thrown into the dust.
His inital words to a witness were polite and showed no haste or anger or fear.

Shrien dewani arranged for his wife to be murdered so he could continue with his seedy lifestyle.

I just hope her family can  file a civil suit against him.

Since SA has double jeopardy, he could now stand and declare his guilt, his involvement and he could not be retried.

If he does, he would wait until any civil suit had been dealt with.

A very good post Hobs summed up perfectly but also its very chilling to think that this man has just walked away with murder because the judge refused the question of his sexuality to be brought in as evidence of Annies murder !!! Why she did this no one knows but that in it self WAS the motive for her murder so the prosecution could/should have changed tactics ( whether they could I do not know) maybe it was too late to change ? You could see by the judges attitude towards the prosecution, even getting irritated and curt at one time, while smiling and being very amicable to the defense !!! Questions need to be asked of this judge and the other judge who tried Oscar Pistorious if these two are really competent to be in the position of deciding someones fate ?

All credit to Hobs for her excellent summing up of the facts in this matter. .

As far as the world is concerned, from the trials of Pistorius and Dewani it appears that two of South Africa's females judges are either not fit for purpose or have serious questions to answer with regard to their probity.

It's to be hoped that the Hindochas will be able to mount a private prosecution for murder against Dewani in the UK, but it may be that throwing another shedload of money in the direction of his wife's relatives will allow him to continue to maintain that he played no part in her untimely death.  Nevertheless, this self-entitled gay control freak is well and truly outed and it's unlikely that many other families will be queuing up for his hand in marriage to their daughters.

Poor Anni.  Whatever made her override her instincts and go ahead with the marriage?  Was she also advised that her face was on the tea towels and it was too late to pull out?

@ultimaThule wrote:All credit to Hobs for her excellent summing up of the facts in this matter. .

As far as the world is concerned, from the trials of Pistorius and Dewani it appears that two of South Africa's females judges are either not fit for purpose or have serious questions to answer with regard to their probity.

It's to be hoped that the Hindochas will be able to mount a private prosecution for murder against Dewani in the UK, but it may be that throwing another shedload of money in the direction of his wife's relatives will allow him to continue to maintain that he played no part in her untimely death.  Nevertheless, this self-entitled gay control freak is well and truly outed and it's unlikely that many other families will be queuing up for his hand in marriage to their daughters.

Poor Anni.  Whatever made her override her instincts and go ahead with the marriage?  Was she also advised that her face was on the tea towels and it was too late to pull out?

May i add he wasn't just a bit gay he was a sexual deviant .

Like many politicians and people in power , from today and the past . in the 70's the Russians during the cold war knew who these people were , for eg Blunt . allegedly ply them with boys and they would reveal secrets . [ i have my suspicions about a current politician , who lets say has bounced back several times ]

Sexual deviancy has a way of bonding people together , creating pacts , its connecting arms influencing and corrupting people at the very top .

Re the Judgement . he played the gay card .it worked.
The OP Judge , did not understand , that firing four bullets [ illegal Black talon Bullets btw , which fragmented as designed into deadly pieces, each fragment with the capacity to kill , so in effect he fired a shot gun ] into an enclosed 2m x 2m space hitting the subject three times after re aiming twice . she did not understand that is clearly initially premeditated intent and due to re positioning the aim thus it is then murder .
it appears that SA has appointed there judges to fill quota's, and not on there competence .

@stillsloppingout wrote:

@ultimaThule wrote:All credit to Hobs for her excellent summing up of the facts in this matter. .

As far as the world is concerned, from the trials of Pistorius and Dewani it appears that two of South Africa's females judges are either not fit for purpose or have serious questions to answer with regard to their probity.

It's to be hoped that the Hindochas will be able to mount a private prosecution for murder against Dewani in the UK, but it may be that throwing another shedload of money in the direction of his wife's relatives will allow him to continue to maintain that he played no part in her untimely death.  Nevertheless, this self-entitled gay control freak is well and truly outed and it's unlikely that many other families will be queuing up for his hand in marriage to their daughters.

Poor Anni.  Whatever made her override her instincts and go ahead with the marriage?  Was she also advised that her face was on the tea towels and it was too late to pull out?

May i add he wasn't just a bit gay he was a sexual deviant .

Like many politicians and people in power , from today and the past . in the 70's the Russians during the cold war knew who these people were , for eg Blunt . allegedly ply them with boys and they would reveal secrets . [ i have my suspicions about a current politician , who lets say has bounced back several times ]

Sexual deviancy has a way of bonding people together , creating pacts , its connecting arms influencing and  corrupting people at the very top .



Re the Judgement . he played the gay card .it worked.
 The OP Judge  , did not understand , that firing four bullets [ illegal Black talon Bullets  btw , which fragmented as designed into deadly pieces, each fragment with the capacity to kill , so in effect he fired a shot gun ] into an enclosed  2m x 2m space hitting the subject three times after re aiming twice .  she did not understand that is clearly initially premeditated intent and due to re positioning the aim thus it is then murder .
it appears that SA has appointed there judges to fill quota's, and not on there competence .

Judge Masipa has granted the prosecution permission to appeal the sentence. I think perhaps the five year sentence was quite a clever thing. I read somewhere today that in effect OP could possibly get away with serving only months of the five years.

It's somewhat perfectly understandable the prosecution would be granted permission to appeal such a sentence. Had the sentence been severe the defence would have probably been granted permission to appeal - but they haven't!

Just a thought.

ETA: with regards to Dewani I haven't a single rational thought on what happened there.

The UK court of public opinion delivers its verdict: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2869811/Vandals-attack-Shrien-Dewani-s-family-home-just-day-return-South-Africa-following-honeymoon-murder-acquittal.html

As it's unlikely that the cost of lawyers over the past four years has left much change from £2million, the 'get out of jail free' card can't be said to be strictly accurate but, nevertheless, to the eyes of the world South Africa's judiciary appears to have been singularly reluctant to hold this man to account and the net result is that he's walked free.

Poor Anni. Whatever possessed you to marry him?

Anni probably didn't have any choice in who she married.

@NickE wrote:Her family will try to get him prosecuted in the UK
.
Swedish newspaper today.
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article19985291.ab

If this is indeed the case, then her family are obviously of the belief that that the burden of proof in UK courts is of a lower standard than those in the Suid Afrikan justice system.