Disgraced televangelist Timothy Omotoso could very likely walk away a free man should the court find that he was not given a fair trial.
Omotoso is on trial in Gqeberha, charged with rape and human trafficking.
On Monday, his defence attorney Peter Daubermann slammed the conduct of Advocate Nceba Ntelwa, who was the state prosecutor during the first trial, which was scrapped.
Daubermann brought an application before the Gqeberha High Court for his client’s release.
He told the court that the entire trial and the evidence of the complainants were tainted by the misconduct of the prosecuting team.
“The conduct of the prosecutors, in particular Advocate Ntelwa, have fallen short of the principles of fairness in court that are expected from a prosecutor,” Daubermann told the court.
He said there were instances where the former prosecutor and the investigating officer had spoken to witnesses while under cross-examination.
Daubermann further accused Ntelwa of opening a WhatsApp group where he would discuss the merits of the case with witnesses, saying that was unethical conduct by a prosecutor.
He said should Omotoso and his co-accused, Zukiswa Sitho and Lusanda Sulani, walk free, the prosecution would only have themselves to blame.
On Tuesday the state fought back, saying the trial against Omotoso had been fair and just.
State prosecutor Advocate Joel Cesar said: “There is no way that we would bring evidence forward that would result in an unfair trial. We maintain that the case has been handled
fairly.”
He said they believed they still had a strong case against the accused.
“We still maintain that the confessions of the witnesses are valid enough to put forward a case against Omotoso,” he added.