S v Shabalala (450/85)
S v Shabalala (450/85) [1986] ZASCA 84; [1986] 4 All SA 551 (AD) (28 August 1986)
The court held that the evidence of the police dog's identification of the appellant by scent was inadmissible, following the principle in R v Trupedo, as the scientific foundation and safeguards were insufficient to reduce its inherent unreliability. However, the exclusion of this evidence did not result in a failure of justice, as the remaining circumstantial evidence—comprising the appellant's voluntary admissions in section 119 proceedings, pointings-out at the crime scene, forensic findings of blood and hair on his overall, and his inability to satisfactorily explain his whereabouts—coll…
Source excerpt
- Admissibility Of Dog Evidence
- Circumstantial Evidence
- Voluntariness Of Admissions
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Dolus Directus
- Pointings Out