Murder accused requests for case to be withdrawn

ROODEPOORT – The case of the man standing trial for the murder of motorcyclist Douglas Pearce, has been postponed for the third time on 21 August.

Meekahefele Masooa from Centurion is accused of shooting Pearce in a supposed road rage incident on Malibongwe Drive, North Riding, on Valentine’s Day, 2014, and pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charge on 17 February, maintaining that he acted in self-defence.

The trial was set to presume on 25 April, but was postponed for further investigation to 26 June. On the day, it was postponed again to 21 August, where it was then postponed to 30 September.

In a surprise twist, Masooa asked Magistrate Denise Smith to withdraw the case against him due it being postponed every time. But the prosecution argued that Masooa was a suspect in a murder investigation, which is not a trivial matter which could easily be struck off the roll.

“It is of the court’s opinion that is not unreasonable to postpone the case again in this case,” stated Magistrate Smith. She continued to say that in light of the court knowing all the facts involved in the case since the bail application on 17 February, that this is a serious charge.

“It can take long to investigate the case and the court has asked prosecution to expedite the investigation.

The case will be heard again on 30 September and Masooa’s bail has been extended.