DEFENCE lawyers continued to scrutinise police conduct in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday, questioning the approach taken in interviewing one of the accused in the Joshlin Smith case.
With a trial-within-a-trial currently under way, the court must determine whether confessions made by co-accused Steven “Steffie” van Rhyn and Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis were obtained voluntarily or under duress.
Both men claim they were assaulted and threatened by police before making their statements.
As a result, their co-accused, Joshlin’s mother Kelly Smith is not involved.
Lawyer Nobahle Mkabayi, representing Steveno van Rhyn, challenged the methods used by Sergeant Dawid Johannes Fortuin, a detective with 11 years of experience, during his interview with her client.
Under cross-examination, at court in the White City Multipurpose Centre in Diazville, Saldanha Bay, Mkabayi grilled him on the events of 20 February 2024, the day after the six-year-old disappeared from her Middelpos home.
Van Rhyn had already provided an initial statement yet was later brought to the Saldanha Bay Sea Border offices for a follow-up interview.
Mkabayi challenged whether Van Rhyn had been properly informed of who Fortuin was and why he was being interviewed.
She said: “My client didn’t know you were a police officer because you didn’t introduce yourself.
Fortuin disagreed, stating he had introduced himself and showed his police identification, saying: “It’s protocol; I always introduce myself.
But Mkabayi pushed back: “Most of us weren’t there. Why didn’t you tell us in your evidence?”
She also questioned why Fortuin hadn’t stated clearly in his primary testimony why Van Rhyn had been called in.
Fortuin said: “I asked him if he knew what happened to Joshlin. That question alone indicates why he was there.”
When asked why he re-interviewed Van Rhyn after he had already provided a statement, Fortuin said: “Joshlin was still missing, and I believed we needed to speak to him again.”
The trial continues.
