Keabetswe Majuta of Elijah Attorneys is defending Oreneile Morokotso on a charge of infanticide after she allegedly caused the death of her newly born baby on October 4, 2011 in Maun when she was 17-years old.Initially, the accused and her attorney agreed to plead guilty to the charge of infanticide, which was substituted from a charge of murder but in the process of verifying the facts, the case proved more complicated because the facts did not show what Morokotso did to cause the death of her baby.
The lawyer said that they would not be proceeding with the plea of guilty, because there was evidence that needed to be clarified by the doctor, who conducted the post-mortem, and other witnesses.High Court Judge Zibani Makhwade had insisted that the facts needed to show how the accused (Morokotso) killed her newborn baby, as stated on the charge sheet, and the summary of facts and proceeded to adjourn the matter.After the short adjournment, state counsel Thapelo Buang said that he had consulted with defence counsel and they had learnt that Morokotso did not actually throw the baby down the pit latrine and as such would need some time to go and re-consider if they are charging her differently or proceeding to trial instead.
