-108-
her the knife when they say they found it in the pocket,
so you have got to think it out. You see Members of the
Jury, these things can happen, sometimes there can be a
mistake. It can be that the accused was mistaken.
He
was in a confused state of mind, he might be mistaken, but
at the same time the police may have taken the knife fr m
the room, (that can happen) and put it in the pocket. The
knife is a material piece of evidence in this case. Up
to then, the accused hadn't made any statement and the
police were looking for evidence. If they can find the
knife in the trousers pocket, it is a very different thing
from finding it in the shop. It so happens that the
accused does not deny that he was responsible for stabbing
the deceased, and so it may not be terribly important
where the knife is found from that point of view, but it
is important because you are looking for truth, you are
looking for which evidence you are going to believe, you
are looking to find out whether the police were just
tying up the ends at the time, so they picked the knife
from the shop, took it up there, and say it was found in
the back pocket. I point this out to you, because there
is this conflict and you have to think about it. You have
also to decide whether this act was a voluntary act. This
is a very important thing. So he says here: "I did not
leave her shop with the knife. (He is shown the pants).
This is my pants, this is the one I was wearing when I
stabbed Miss Rabsatt. (Witness is shown bath trunk).
These look like mine. I had worn it on the 18th January,
(He is shown the blue jersey).
10
15
20
25
This blue jersey is mine,
30
I was wearing it on the morning of the 19th. Miss Rabsatt
had been saying for some days that I had taken her money.
I remember telling my sister about it.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.