Klansman Trial: Recordings Admitted into Evidence

Alleged gangster’s recordings admitted into evidence – The prosecution took a big step in its case in the Klansman Gang Trial after Chief Justice Bryan Sykes ruled that the telephone recordings allegedly between gang members are admissible as evidence. A former gang member turned witness had previously testified he used three phones to secretly record conversations he had with other members through the use of a software application he downloaded. Several questions were previously raised as to the authenticity of these recordings and the credibility of the former gangster turned crown witness. 

Following days of submissions from the prosecution and the defense, Chief Justice Bryan Sykes has ruled in favour of the crown, which means that telephone recordings allegedly between members of the Klansman Gang will be used against them in court.

In making the decision Chief Sykes referenced several past judicial matters with similar circumstances dating back to 1993; ruling that the evidence from the former gang member who secretly recorded the conversations is sufficient to meet the required statutory standards of the Evidence Amendment Act, 2015.

Section 31 G of the Act states that information produced by a computer, in this case, a phone, shall only be admissible as evidence if at all times the device was fully functional.

Previously the defense argued on the basis that the crown cannot prove the devices and application used were fully functional and that the witness could have easily fabricated and altered the data before sharing it with the investigating officer. However, Judge Sykes ruled there was no indication that the application used to do the recordings was malfunctioning nor was there anything to suggest that the witness manipulated the data.

Additionally, he notes that the operation to download and use the call recording application does not require any expertise. “We are in an era where smartphones are as common as anything and software applications are more user friendly,” Sykes said.

With the recordings admitted into evidence, over the course of the trial, the defense has frequently brought into question the credibility of the crown’s two key witnesses who were former gangsters.

In passing the ruling Sykes noted that being an accomplice cannot rationally disqualify a witness from giving evidence in accordance with the Evidence Amendment Act, 2015.

The trial will reconvene on Tuesday at 10 am.