Witnesses deny footprints expertise

Mpho Mokwape | Tuesday October 18, 2016 18:34

 

The witnesses, Tebogo Modise from Security Systems and his supervisor Walter Leave admitted to the defence team during cross-examination that they did not have any training in footprints tracking.

Both witnesses were giving evidence in a case in which five men are accused of attacking a Chinese man in Gaborone North and in the process killing a security guard.

The accused, Lebang Ntesi (30), Phemelo Tshelang (25), Gorata Sebego (22), Patrick Gaile (42) and Mpho Mangwa (28) appeared before Chief Justice Maruping Dibotelo at the Gaborone High Court yesterday. They are facing one count of murder and one count of armed robbery and have pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Following the witnesses’ evidence in court that the accused persons were apprehended following the footprints from the scene crime, the defence team grilled them on their expertise in footprints tracking. They had admitted to only using their own personal experience in tracking the prints.

One of the defence lawyers, Wema Isa when cross-examining Leave who is a security supervisor at Security Systems said the witnesses have no technical expertise to identify footprints.

She told the witness that the prints of shoes that he admitted to following were of a popular brand and that he could not be sure that it was the same as the one tracked from the crime scene.

“By admitting to having no training in footprints tracking means you cannot be sure that it was the same shoes,” she said.

Isa also told the witness that even the Omega and Dell laptop said to have been confiscated at one of the accused persons could be not the same as the ones that were stolen at the scene.

She trashed the witness’s evidence saying he could not identify the items as the same since he did not even take their serial numbers.

“The laptop may not be same one since Dell is a big brand, same as the Puma shoes that you identified. Both companies are big brands and you cannot be sure that those are the same as the ones you been talking about,” she said.

Meanwhile, the five men, who are all residents of Oodi, are accused of murdering security officer Olebogeng Ramapulane on the night of August 28, 2013 at a farm in Gaborone North.

On the count of armed robbery, they are alleged to have used violence against a Chinese citizen, Liu Jian Hui before getting away with cash amounting to P20,000 and items including a computer, laptop, blazer and a cellphone. The police have since recovered the stolen items. The accused also allegedly beat Hui to a pulp resulting in him being admitted at Princess Marina Hospital’s intensive care.

At press time, Leave was still on the stand for cross-examination from other defence lawyers.