Roland Routh

Milton Engelbrecht, the legal aid-instructed lawyer of a woman accused of murdering her six-month-old son by hitting his head on the ground, last week asked the court to find her not guilty of murder but of culpable homicide instead.

Priscilla Daukeline Stuurman (30) pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder, read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act, before Windhoek High Court Judge Claudia Claasen at the start of her trial.

Engelbrecht argued the State failed to prove Stuurman had the intention to kill her son. 

According to him, her version that the infant fell out of her hands because of her drunkenness could be reasonably possibly true. 

He said witness testimony that his client habitually mistreated the child when she was drunk does not per se constitute evidence supporting the murder charge. 

He said, while her version of what transpired on that fateful evening might be suspected in some respect, it can not be rejected outright as false beyond a reasonable doubt. 

He said the court must be guided by established rules and principles of law. “What is required is for the court to be convinced that her version is not only improbable but false beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said and continued: The test remains whether there is a reasonable possibility that the accused’s evidence may be true – and in applying that test, the court needs not even believe her story. 

It is sufficient, he said, if the court is satisfied there is a reasonable possibility that it may be substantially true. 

He argued if the court finds that the accused is responsible for the death of the victim, then the court must find that it was not intentional and convict her of culpable homicide.

For his part, State advocate Taodago Gaweseb argued that although the evidence before court is circumstantial, as there were no eyewitnesses to the incident, the evidence presented is credible – and the only inference to be drawn is that the accused is guilty.

Stuurman is accused of intentionally killing Stiaan Cidio Stuurman by hitting his head on the ground, causing his skull to fracture and leading to his death one day later. 

Judge Claasen reserved her judgment until 11 August. 

Stuurman is on bail, but she is in custody in Keetmanshoop for a different matter.