THE judgement on the application to discharge former traffic chief, Dave Middleton, on all 34 charges was heard last Friday in the Port Shepstone Regional Court.
Regional Magistrate Johann Bester refused the application for a discharge on charges other than counts 11, 12 and 31.
Mr Middleton has been charged with the creation and distribution of child pornography, rape, sexual assault, sexual grooming of a child, exposure or display of child pornography, possession of child pornography and defeating the ends of justice. Mr Middleton has pleaded not guilty.
Magistrate Bester said that count 31, the photograph depicting a bare female nipple, was not identified by any witness and was not necessarily that of a child either.
He found Mr Middleton not guilty and discharged him on this count. He found count 11 and 12 a duplication of count nine and 10, the sexual grooming of a child.
In conclusion, Magistrate Bester said that he was well aware that there were contradictions and shortcomings in the evidence of the state witnesses and that there may also be all kinds of incongruities, as suggested by Mr Middleton’s attorney, Advocate Jimmy Howse.
“Their significance in the context of the case as a whole can, however, only be determined with reference to the duty that rests upon the state to prove its allegations beyond a reasonable doubt. That inquiry arises at the conclusion of the case only,” said Magistrate Bester.
The trial is expected to draw to a close in February next year.
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