The Burry case: Dropping and reinstating of charges

[steve61]

Nobody has mentioned anything about traffic conditions at the time of the accident. That could have a bearing on the case. If traffic is backed up and you go whizzing past, just as someone leaves space for a vehicle to turn right, although driver of turning vehicle is still at fault, there is much less blame attached. Happened to a friend who hit a scooter that was riding between two lanes of cars. Scooter rider badly hurt, but he got fined R250 for failing to keep a proper lookout.Scooter rider charged with reckless driving!!

[geoff.rich]

http://www.iol.co.za...shock-1.1541076

 

Seriously?

Edited July 3, 2013 by Admin
Thread merged

[Tumbleweed]

http://www.iol.co.za...shock-1.1541076

 

Seriously?

 

Posted here: https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/127918-charges-dropped-in-burry-case/page__st__112

[Tumbleweed]

Thanks for the merge.

[Lucky Luke.]

Just as I was about to type a lecture on the difference between civil and criminal liability you edited the post

 

I agree that such a change could make a difference to the attitude of the driving public, however I don't think the difference would be huge - greater risk of civil liability is not going to make much of a difference if you have nothing to lose financially - which might well be the case for a 25 yo taxi driver. But every bit helps.

 

Ha, decided to engage the brain a bit more before dropping another rant

 

Either way, it seems obvious to me that we as cyclists really need this case to go to court and it looks like there is a genuine risk of that not happening, which is what gets my blood boiling.

Edited July 3, 2013 by Lucky Luke.

[Lucky Luke.]

Really needs to be stepped up, I feel if us riders don't voice our feelings sadly this will keep happening. It truly is sad that many people cant even use their indicator. Since I ride I am far more aware and patient when by cyclists, why cant others?

 

Indicators might as well be optional extras on SA cars.

 

If this guy walks away there will be no message sent and more cyclists will die as a direct result.

 

All citizens of this country owe it to themselves to make sure this goes to court and a proper job is done by the prosecution.

[(Deon)]

Ha, decided to engage the brain a bit more before dropping another rant

 

Either way, it seems obvious to me that we as cyclists really need this case needs to go to court and it looks like there is a genuine risk of that, which is what gets my blood boiling.

 

I get what you're saying but you may need to engage a lower gear.. read that line again.

 

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between Burry and the old man hit and run down in front of his son in Stellenbosch? In my opinion, as much as I want to see justice, whatever that may be, should we not be watching the hit&run case a bit closer?? I do feel for the Stander family but justice in this thread terms seems to be justice to all negligence that puts cyclists at risk.

 

Seems lot of people want 'justice' from the high profile case where there is doubt to who's at fault. This could lead to massive disappointment and the mob lynching of someone who is quite possibly innocent (benefit of doubt). Burry's case is not as clear-cut as the family are hoping, not like the case against the hit and run driver who was clearly negligent as the scene showed and through his need to hide for a few days. Or even those few cases in PE where drivers got off with a light slap.

 

If the plea is for the Stander family to find peace then I agree, I hope this turns out to be a fair trial for all but if the message is to highlight driver negligence, treat all cases equally and don't miss any opportunity.

 

I get this is an emotional case but if you are not emotionally attached by some close relation, then cycling needs you to remain subjective and focussed on every case, equally.

 

Question, when last did we see an update in the hit and run case?

Edited July 3, 2013 by Pain or shine

[Servetus]

I get what you're saying but you may need to engage a lower gear.. read that line again.

 

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between Burry and the old man hit and run down in front of his son in Stellenbosch? In my opinion, as much as I want to see justice, whatever that may be, should we not be watching the hit&run case a bit closer?? I do feel for the Stander family but justice in this thread terms seems to be justice to all negligence that puts cyclists at risk.

 

Seems lot of people want 'justice' from the high profile case where there is doubt to who's at fault. This could lead to massive disappointment and the mob lynching of someone who is quite possibly innocent (benefit of doubt). Burry's case is not as clear-cut as the family are hoping, not like the case against the hit and run driver who was clearly negligent as the scene showed and through his need to hide for a few days. Or even those few cases in PE where drivers got off with a light slap.

 

If the plea is for the Stander family to find peace then I agree, I hope this turns out to be a fair trial for all but if the message is to highlight driver negligence, treat all cases equally and don't miss any opportunity.

 

I get this is an emotional case but if you are not emotionally attached by some close relation, then cycling needs you to remain subjective and focussed on every case, equally.

 

Question, when last did we see an update in the hit and run case?

 

Are you talking about the case of Dr Koos Roux (Bottelary Rd, Kuilsrivier)? - http://www.thehubsa....hl__kuils river

 

The driver was arrested and the case postponed to 29 January 2014.

 

As for Burry's case not being clear-cut - I think that makes the need for the case to be properlyprosecuted even greater - so that what actually happened can come out for all to see. On the other hand, if the NPA believes there is insufficient reasons to proceed, we need to at least see how they come to this conclusion as well.

[Lucky Luke.]

I get what you're saying but you may need to engage a lower gear.. read that line again.

 

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between Burry and the old man hit and run down in front of his son in Stellenbosch? In my opinion, as much as I want to see justice, whatever that may be, should we not be watching the hit&run case a bit closer?? I do feel for the Stander family but justice in this thread terms seems to be justice to all negligence that puts cyclists at risk.

 

Seems lot of people want 'justice' from the high profile case where there is doubt to who's at fault. This could lead to massive disappointment and the mob lynching of someone who is quite possibly innocent (benefit of doubt). Burry's case is not as clear-cut as the family are hoping, not like the case against the hit and run driver who was clearly negligent as the scene showed and through his need to hide for a few days. Or even those few cases in PE where drivers got off with a light slap.

 

If the plea is for the Stander family to find peace then I agree, I hope this turns out to be a fair trial for all but if the message is to highlight driver negligence, treat all cases equally and don't miss any opportunity.

 

I get this is an emotional case but if you are not emotionally attached by some close relation, then cycling needs you to remain subjective and focussed on every case, equally.

 

Question, when last did we see an update in the hit and run case?

 

I'm with you on the Dr Koos Roux incident and am following it with great interest. Postponed to early next year.

 

Burry's case seems pretty clear cut to me. As far as I'm aware the driver has not disputed the story told consistently in the media. He turned right in the face of oncoming traffic. Seems like a clear case of culpable homicide to me.

[Gambithunt]

The SA justice system is run by a bunch of absolute morons, it never ceases to amazing how stupid they are.

[Eldron]

I was out riding the koppies in the south on the weekend when I came across RIP BURRY spray painted on the rocks.

 

Lots of blnking was required. It still cuts deep.

[Shannond]

On the way back from burry stander event in port Edward on Sunday 4 mountain bikers from the Westville area (2 fathers and son and daughter) in their car were involved in a serious accident with another vehicle .. occupying 2 drunk African males ... who died in the accident.

[goya-goya]

 

 

Like your misguided faith in the "facts" about Lance…

misguided for who??

 

I still think lance was and will always be a great cyclist... I don't change my opinion just because it's the liberal thing to do...

[Tumbleweed]

 

misguided for who??

 

I still think lance was and will always be a great cyclist... I don't change my opinion just because it's the liberal thing to do...

 

Go read what you had to say about Lance going to destroy Tygart with facts...misguided and a short memory? Liberal? Hahahaha! Like your hero was liberal with the truth?

 

Question to the legal eagles here...what is the process now? NPA has to make a decision either way? Or could this just disappear?

Edited July 3, 2013 by Tumbleweed

[TimW]

This was in The Mercury today (and possibly Cape Times, Pretoria News and Star I think as well).

 

 

Bernadette Wolhuter

 

The family of Olympic cyclist Burry Stander have lost all faith in the criminal justice system and say they have received “shabby treatment” from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

This was after charges against the taxi driver implicated in Stander’s death were withdrawn earlier this week.

“What happened is profoundly disappointing,” their lawyer, Paul Preston, said yesterday in a letter written, at the request of the family, to the chief prosecutor for southern KwaZulu-Natal, Ray Sansom. Preston called on the NPA to ensure that the charges were reinstated.

Njabulo Nyawose was driving a taxi and Stander cycling when the two collided in January. Stander, then 25, was killed and Nyawose was arrested and charged with culpable

homicide.

But, on Monday, when the State requested that the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court grant it a fourth postponement for a decision to be taken on whether or not to prosecute Nyawose, magistrate Piet Coetzee said there had been too many delays and refused the request, causing the State to withdraw the charges.

Preston has slammed the NPA for not keeping the Stander family and, in particular, Stander’s widow, Cherise, abreast of the case’s progress.

Cherise was not in court on Monday and first came to know that the charges had been withdrawn when The Mercury contacted her for comment.

“If there was a danger that this matter would be withdrawn due to the delays which all of us, with respect, find perplexing, then myself and the Stander family should have been alerted to this long before,” Preston said.

“One can only imagine how it must have felt for the family to hear from the press that charges had been withdrawn.”

Preston asked why, when the postponement was refused, the matter was not

stood down for prosecutor Nozipho Maseko to discuss the State’s next move with her superiors. The State should have considered making a more senior prosecutor available to argue for the postponement, he said.

Preston noted what he called an “often disappointing performance” on the part of the NPA and said the Stander family was owed an apology as well as the NPA’s assurance that the case would be brought before the courts again.

Provincial spokeswoman for the NPA, Natasha Ramkisson, was yesterday unable to provide comment on Preston’s letter, but said on Tuesday this week that the director of public prosecutions was still in the process of deciding whether or not to pursue the charges against Nyawose.

[TimW]

The Mercury's editorial/leader today ...

 

Right to justice

The decision to effectively drop the charges against the taxi driver who allegedly caused the death of Olympic cyclist Burry Stander has left his family and the cycling community angry, shocked and confused.

For proper justice in a civil society there has to be fairness from all sides.

In this case, Njabulo Nyawose, who is alleged to have been driving the taxi which killed Stander, deserves every right to a fair trial – something that the magistrate who refused the prosecutor’s request for a third postponement feels he is not getting with yet another delay.

Equally, the Stander family and the cycling community have every right to see Nyawose stand trial for what they believe were his negligent actions which caused the death of one of South Africa’s sporting heroes – and obviously Tuesday’s decision means that looks less likely to happen.

In the cycling community’s court of opinion there is no doubt Nyawose has already been found guilty, but that decision is based on the heartbreak of losing a hero and the anger of feeling like a target every time they head out on the roads.

In a fair and just court there is no place for these raw emotions and Nyawose’s guilt or innocence has to be tested against the hard facts of the case.

The problem is that the impression has been created that the Director of Public Prosecutions’ failure to do their job effectively and efficiently has resulted in the facts not being tested in court.

If this is the case, then justice has not been served and the Stander family has every right to be angry and demand the prosecutors and police do their jobs.

At the same time, the greater cycling community will also continue to feel that their basic rights as road users are being undermined in that they have no protection from the law whenever they venture out on the roads.