Cape Town - A spell of sickness has hit judicial staff presiding over the murder trial of Corrine Jackson who is accused of attempting to cut off the head of her estranged girlfriend, Nadine Esterhuizen in 2017.
This week, three witnesses were ready to take the stand in the State’s case against Jackson after a Section 32A had been set by the court.
This section in law disallows any further postponements in the trial after a run of delays.
The witnesses were expected to testify on Wednesday and Thursday, but sudden sickness hit Jackson’s defence lawyer, attorney Kim Kinnear and its also understood that she experienced car trouble. The next day the magistrate also called in sick.
On Wednesday, Kinnear informed the court that she was feeling ill after lunch and the matter had been set down for 2pm.
The magistrate then called the three witnesses before court, one of whom was first on scene on the day of the murder and warned them to be back in court on Thursday.
On Thursday, the magistrate was also ill and the matter was postponed to February next year.
Jackson, who was supported by her fiancé, appeared chirpy and happy and informed the court she had no problem with a further postponement.
She entered the dock wearing a long black jersey clutching a book and the next day, a white shirt and black attire.
Linda Jones, who is part of Mitchells Plain Residents Association and court watch for the community policing forum, said they were deeply concerned by the spate of sickness that has hit staff, causing delays in the trial.
“We are very concerned about things that are happening and further postponements, and people are losing their day's money at work.
“The court is already under pressure, if it's not the attorneys, then its the magistrate and we are not saying that people cannot get sick. This case has been dragging for a long time,” she said.
Esterhuizen was stabbed 21 times and her killer attempted to cut her head off in what was first believed to be a satanic act and attack.
Jackson was allegedly found locked inside the toilet with two daggers in her possession.
Esterhuizen was found in the kitchen and the blood splatter started from the entrance of the house to other parts of the living space.
But the detective who testified during the bail application said the killer had attacked the victim with much aggression.
Jackson is also facing a separate charge of common assault for an alleged incident which took place earlier this year involving her new girlfriend’s mother.
Jackson has also indicated previously that she would be bringing five witnesses to testify.
Jackson has already indicated that she will be pleading not guilty to charges of murder, attempted murder and contravening a protection order and that no assessors were needed to guide the magistrate during the trial.
The case has been hit with several days in the past five years, with Jackson seeking medical help at psychiatric and psychology facilities, including being ill with Covid-19 and changing her legal representation.
Jackson has since been deemed fit to stand trial.
During the first bail hearing Jackson claimed she had acted in self-defence and gave a blow-by-blow account in her version of the fateful day.
The police who took the stand said the wounds on Jackson’s body were self-inflicted and that she had been placed on suicide watch and that she needed to be on medication due to anger outbursts.