WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-05-11 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
By CLAYTON BARNES
It was drama followed up by suspense last week as one of the witnesses testifying against Cape Town fashion boss and former racehorse owner Mark Lifman disappeared after breaking down several times during gruelling cross-examination.
The tall 19-year-old from Brooklyn, who says he had sexual contact with the Sea Point millionaire for drug money when he was 14, stood in the dock trembling and holding his head in his hands during cross-examination by Lifman’s attorney, William Booth, in the Cape Town regional court.
The man was the second witness in two days on Tuesday to testify about alleged sexual contact with Lifman for money while being a minor. Clearly afraid, he told the court he was “scared” of Lifman because he was a “very powerful man”.
After a number of tough questions he said Booth was confusing him. The witness also contradicted himself several times about where and how incidents occurred.
Questioned about discrepancies between his testimony and statements made to Scorpions investigator Christiaan Theron over the alleged meetings with Lifman, the witness said he was “frightened” when questioned by the Scorpions years ago and that he deliberately kept certain details hidden as the statements were given in front of his father.
After both witnesses had broken down several times during cross-examination, magistrate Amanda Lucas postponed the case to the following day to allow them time collect their thoughts and for “some rest”.
But on Wednesday morning, just minutes before court started in a new court room, the 19-year-old disappeared without a trace from a bench in the corridor. Despite a search he couldn’t be found.
When court resumed at 11am, state prosecutor Piet Steyn told the court he had heard that the witness was on his way, but did not know where he was.
“Theron (the Scorpions investigator) knows where the witness is and is on his way there now, we don’t know how long they will be but can’t continue today,” Steyn told the court.
The case was postponed to May 22, and although defence attorney Booth agreed to the date, he was clearly upset about the “lost day” in court.
Court rules prohibit a witness under cross-examination from talking to anyone about the case during postponements or adjournments.
ooth said he was concerned that this could become a problem as the investigating officer was also not permitted to talk to the witness, but would have to if and when he found him. No warrant was served for the teen’s arrest when Steyn assured the court that Theron would find him.
Outside court, Lifman claimed the teenager had been given “special treatment”.
Booth said the witness could have fled because of withdrawal symptoms due to “his tik addiction”. Booth added that it was “strange” for the court not to have served a warrant for the witness’s arrest. “He was warned to be at court and is under oath, he was outside the courtroom before we started and then fled,” he said.
Cape Town psychiatrist Dr Ashraf Jedaar said there were three broad reasons why the witness had probably had an emotional breakdown and eventually disappeared. The first could be the result of seeing Lifman in court years after the incident. This could cause “traumatic flashbacks” of the incident. The witness’s emotion in the witness box was a typical post-traumatic symptom.
“Secondly the youth is said to have been a drug addict and had apparently abused large amounts of tik, and this could also have an effect on testimony; especially with the witness having to remember certain events in detail,” said Jedaar.
“Maybe he suffers from personality problems or comes from a broken home or anti-social environment. These are all factors that contribute to this kind of reaction.”
On Monday, in harrowing testimony, an 18-year-old from Sanddrif told the court in detail how he was allegedly molested by Lifman when he was 12 or 13 in exchange for money to help his mother. The teenager told the court he had kept the incident from his family and friends for years because he felt humiliated.
He had spoken about it for the first time to Scorpions investigator Theron in 2005 and had made two statements in his mother’s presence. However, the teen also acknowledged he had lied about seeing coffins and a photographic dark room in a warehouse owned by Lifman.
Lifman pleaded not guilty to charges of indecently assaulting seven boys after his arrest on April 19, 2005. He was later released on R200 000 bail.
He also pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted murder and defeating the ends of justice. It is alleged that he attempted to murder a man who apparently procured the boys for him.
Lifman has previously been acquitted of indecently assaulting twin brothers in 1999.
Testimony from the 19-year-old Brooklyn witness will continue on May 22.