Drunk driving case blood sample query

 

• 19 Feb 2014
• Cape Argus

THE DRINKING and driving trial of musician Arno Carstens was postponed in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Carstens’s lawyer, Milton de la Harpe, was granted a postponement until today to finalise his cross-examination of State witness Tim Lourens, the head of forensic toxicology at the University of Pretoria.

Lourens started testifying in October last year.

Carstens was arrested three years ago for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.

He has pleaded not guilty to a charge of drunk driving, alternatively driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent. The legal limit is 0.05 percent.

On Tuesday, De la Harpe continued to attack the methodology used by the laboratory that analysed the blood sample.

He also put it to Lourens that blood samples could be deemed unreliable because of the presence of micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi.

He said glucose levels presented another possibility for a faulty reading, because glucose was often elevated by shock or stress.

Lourens replied: “If one can inhibit ethanol fermentation, then other things can be controlled and reliable.”

When a blood sample was taken from an accused and put into a sterile tube, it was mixed with a sodium fluoride powder to prevent the formation of such micro-organisms.

De la Harpe asked if the powder would also be effective against Candida albacans, a common fungus that lived in much of the human population without harmful effect.

Lourens said the fungus had an enzyme which changed glucose into fermentation, but that this would be inhibited by the powder.

The defence lawyer said he found

BLERK this strange since Lourens had testified in another case at the same court that it would not inhibit the fungus.

The doctor denied he had said this and based his opinion on numerous studies.

“With all respect, you are not an expert in this field,” De la Harpe put to the doctor.

Lourens acknowledged that he was not an expert in this narrow field but that he would leave it to the court to decide. “I don’t claim to be an expert,” Lourens said. “Exactly,” replied the defence lawyer. Carstens’s team was expected to call its own expert, Neels Viljoen, a retired head of the forensic laboratory in Pretoria, sometime during the trial. – Sapa

AT THE MERCY OF THE COURT

• Chelsea Geach STAFF REPORTER chelsea.geach@inl.co.za

Drama as driver’s family react violently to photographers

I DON’T THINK THE OUTCOME WILL BRING ANY CLOSURE. THERE’S NO CLOSURE WHEN YOU’VE LOST THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE

THE DRIVER whose two passengers were killed in a Waterfront crash in 2012 is set to plead guilty to charges of culpable homicide and reckless and negligent driving.

Jacobus Austin appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court to report that his plea bargain application had been rejected by the Director of Public Prosecutions. Instead of negotiating his sentence, he will be at the mercy of the court when he pleads guilty.

Austin’s passengers were Georgina Moreland, 19, who was killed instantly, and Rohan Roodt, 22, who died in hospital of his injuries.

Yesterday there was chaos outside the court as his family reacted violently to photographers, his father even throwing coffee at some of them.

Austin’s attorney, William Booth, said he hoped his client would receive a suspended sentence with correctional supervision, involving house arrest and community service.

But transport MEC Robin Carlisle, who came to court in support of the victims, said harsher sentences were needed in culpable homicide cases. “Without jail consequences the whole thing’s a farce. I don’t think people understand the extreme trauma attached to losing someone on the road.”

On December 9, 2012, at 2.40am, Georgina had been out partying with her girlfriends. It had started at Tiger Tiger in Claremont, then moved to Dizzy’s in Camps Bay and on to Shimmy Beach Club at the Waterfront. Georgina and her friends were heading back to Dizzy’s when they split up, and she got into a car with cousins Austin and Roodt.

Austin lost control of his new BMW on Dock Road near the One&Only hotel. The tyres left black skidmarks on the tar, leading up to the tree that smashed the car to pieces. Georgina was flung on to the road.

Georgina’s family has battled to come to terms with her death. Mother Louise Raynor, a conveyancing attorney, takes the long way round to visit clients at the Waterfront to avoid the bend where her daughter died.

At home in Camps Bay, Georgina’s bedroom has been left untouched, while the lives of her mother and older sister Carla have changed completely. “Life is quiet now,” said Carla.

The family don’t plan on attending any of the hearings when Austin’s case returns to court on 8 April.

“I don’t believe the outcome will bring any closure,” said Louise. “There’s no closure when you’ve lost the love of your life.”

Burning issue as city emergency staff are stretched to the limits

• 7 Feb 2014
• Cape Argus
• Anél Lewis METRO WRITER anel.lewis@inl.co.za

STAFF numbers across the City of Cape Town’s safety and security departments are “inadequate”, with fire and rescue services falling short of the numbers needed to be compliant.

PICTURE: MASIXOLE FENIDEMAND The city has only 954 firefighters, making the department ‘heavily understaffed’ to curb fires like the Valhalla Park blaze

In terms of the South African National Code for community protection for fire, the city needs to have a staff of 1 515 operational firefighters for compliance.

But according to the department’s business plan for the 2014/15 financial year, it has only 954 operational firefighters, making this one of the departments to be “heavily understaffed”.

Richard Bosman, executive director of safety and security, noted in the report that a further 240 reservists would be employed at the end of this financial year.

“This department needs to remain progressive in order to keep abreast of the ever-changing human and geographical environment and technologies of an ever-expanding city.”

Traffic services, also short on staff, will be stretched even further as the city hosts more events, and with the extension of the MyCiTi bus routes across the city.

Traffic chief Heathcliff Thomas said the city’s traffic staff were “clearly not adequate” for law enforcement across the metro.

“Critical staffing needs to exist in the enforcement environment and the increase in events and the introduction of the Integrated Rapid Transport system will severely impact on the small contingent of staff.”

There are 318 traffic officers in the traffic enforcement section who focus on daily traffic patrols, and they are supported by 13 traffic wardens. But Thomas said that since these officers worked three duties a day, there was reduced deployment at certain times. Annual leave, study and sick leave also put strain on staff capacity.

He said 456 uniformed traffic officials were employed permanently and 126 part- time traffic attendants manned road crossing points.

The department exceeded its targets last year in terms of enforcement and the reduction of accidents at the five highest frequency intersections.

Thomas said the department had set several targets for the next financial year, including a zero tolerance approach to speeding and drunk driving. More than R9 million would be spent on upgrading facilities that would improve service delivery, and there were plans to use the Ghost Squad more extensively.

But Thomas called for the appointment of additional staff, more parttime attendants and the possible use of volunteers to act as reserve traffic wardens at events.

Although Cape Town’s revenue from traffic fines, at 38 percent, is above the national average of below 20 percent, there was a sharp drop in this income for the previous financial year. It fell far short of the budgeted income of R167 653 for the 2012/13 financial year. Thomas, pictured left, said the reduction in camera fines issue could be attributed to the visible enforcement strategy of traffic services. There was also a delay in sending out fine notices because of technical problems. But Thomas noted in his report that the fine revenue income budget was unrealistic. Because fines were set by the court, they could not be raised annually.

Rudolph Wiltshire, chief of law enforcement and specialised services, said the shortage of patrol vehicles affected service delivery.

Metro police chief Wayne le Roux noted in his department’s business plan that service delivery protests had prevented the metro police from achieving some of its performance targets for last year.

The department plans to appoint more than 360 reservist firefighters over the next five years to supplement the professional fire service.

Despite its capacity constraints, the city’s fire services dealt with more than 26 000 incidents last year and exceeded its target of responding to calls within 14 minutes.