GQEBERHA – The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has come under fire for seeking to revisit factual findings in the rape trial of Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotoso, more than three months after his acquittal.
Judge Irna Schoeman, who presided over the eight-year trial in the Eastern Cape High Court, cleared Omotoso and his co-accused Lusani Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho in April, citing insufficient evidence and critical failings in the state’s case. The NPA is now requesting that Schoeman clarify parts of her judgment to pave the way for a possible appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
On Monday, the court heard the first phase of the NPA’s application for leave to appeal. Representing the state, Alpa Bodlani said the request was not an attempt to reopen the case but rather to establish a clear record for legal questions to be considered on appeal.
“We want the clarification so we may ask the court to reserve questions of law,” said Bodlani, who also told the court that the state could not identify the factual conclusions from the judgment.
The defence, led by advocate Peter Daubermann, dismissed the request as “procedurally impermissible” and accused the state of trying to re-litigate a case it had already lost.
“You discharged your function and cannot now supplement, elaborate or revisit your factual findings,” Daubermann told the court. He argued that the Criminal Procedure Act provides no legal avenue for the state to request such clarification after an acquittal, unless it brings a formal application under Section 319 to reserve a question of law — which it had not done.
Daubermann also claimed the application was filed too late. “It is now more than 90 days after judgment was delivered in this case,” he said, noting that the state had missed the reasonable 21-day timeframe to act.
He called the move a “retrospective fishing expedition,” warning that if allowed, it could undermine the finality of acquittals across the justice system.
Judge Schoeman is expected to rule on the matter next Tuesday.
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