Johannesburg - Forensic officer Thabo Johannes Mosia has blamed the discrepancies in his evidence on being forced to guess the work he conducted due to his pocketbook being missing.
Mosia, a forensic officer attached to the Springs Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management Division, was responsible for collecting, packaging, and processing all exhibits on the scene on the day Senzo Meyiwa was killed at the Vosloorus home of his then-girlfriend Kelly Khumalo.
The forensic officer took to the witness stand for the third time as the defence for the five men on trial for the October 26, 2014 murder of Meyiwa requested for Mosia to come back to provide clarity on some issues he testified about.
Kicking off the cross-examination in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria yesterday, the defence counsels of the five men on trial pointed out several discrepancies in the testimony given by Mosia on his movements on the day before and after Meyiwa was killed, and the details he recorded in his police pocketbook.
The defence grilled Mosia about how he had failed to collect crucial evidence, and they alleged that as a result, the crime scene had already been compromised upon his arrival.
Mosia told the court that he left the Meyiwa murder scene to attend to two other crime scenes, but that he later returned to the Khumalo household at about 6am on October 27.
He further told the court that he used a pocketbook to record his movements; however, this showed that he only returned to the scene at 10:25 a.m.
The forensic officer continued to defend his work and testimony, indicating that he was forced to prepare without his pocketbook.
"I was on standby, and when I prepared the evidence pertaining to this matter, I was on incapacity leave. I had to go to Springs to search for documents that would assist me in preparing my evidence for this court.
"When I got to Springs, I found that the documents had already been booked out by the provincial crime scene management. I could not even find my pocketbook, which affected the manner in which I was trying to prepare to come to court," he said.
Mosia stressed that he relied on statements that he had made prior to testifying.
"With the statement I had found, I did not have the certainty that it was going to be the statement that was going to form part of the second docket that I found here in court. And that is one of the reasons why there was confusion about my evidence towards the end."
He also disputed the assertion by the defence that he did not go to other crime scenes after leaving the Khumalo household at the time Meyiwa was killed.
Mosia had previously indicated in court that the pocketbook could not be found at the criminal records centre in Springs in 2022.
The matter continues tomorrow with the testimony of Msizi Jack Buthelezi.
The Star