Porritt and Bennett petition appeal court as fraud trial drags on
August 23, 2009
By Wiseman Khuzwayo
There is no end in sight in the trial of Gary Porritt and Sue Bennett, who are charged with allegedly defrauding 3 000 investors, mainly old-age pensioners, of R150 million.
There are now two petitions before the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) - even before the trial has started at the South Gauteng High Court.
The two accused, whose trial has dragged on since July 2005, have petitioned the SCA against the decision of Legal Aid SA not to grant them each a senior advocate and a junior for their defence.
Judge Geraldine Borchers ruled on January 14 that Legal Aid should provide Porritt and Bennett with two advocates each to be paid at the maximum fee permissible under the Legal Aid Guide, and to instruct the four advocates to begin with various pending pre-trial applications at once.
But in its petition, Legal Aid says this judgment is erroneous because the court's powers under section 3b of the Legal Aid Act, read with section 35(3)(g) of the constitution, were circumscribed by the doctrine of separation of powers.
It says that in the situation of Porritt and Bennett, a court's power was limited to ordering Legal Aid to provide "a legal practitioner" to the accused "if substantial injustice would otherwise result".
"In the circumstances of the present case, no legal representation ought to have been provided to the second and third respondents (Porritt and Bennett) at State expense as there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that they were unable to fund their own representation," argues Legal Aid.
Mthunzi Mhaga, acting spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority, said: "The appeal by Legal Aid SA has the potential to delay the criminal trial. However, the State has requested the SCA for preferential enrolment of the appeal and Legal Aid is aware of this. We are hoping all the parties will endeavour to speed up the process so the delay is minimal."
The indictment against the two is about 3 500 pages long, charging Porritt and Bennett inter alia with fraud, tax evasion, share price manipulation and contravention of exchange control regulations.
Porritt and Bennett were directors of collapsed financial services company Tigon.
The two have indicated they intend making several applications before the trial begins.
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