Kabelo Masoabi
THE High Court has dismissed an application by murder-accused Ntisa Ramosebetsi to be acquitted before placing his defence, ruling that the prosecution has presented a case he must answer.
Sitting in the Nothern Division of the High Court in Leribe, Justice ’Manapo Motebele this week rejected a plea by Ramosebetsi’s lawyer, Advocate Potso Mokhachane, who had urged the court to discharge his client for lack of evidence.
Ramosebetsi, 29, is accused of strangling Moorosi Mohloai to death on 8 November 2020 in Sebothoane, Leribe.
At the time, both men were reportedly caught up in a love triangle with one ’Mathabo Senatsi, who was initially charged alongside the accused but has since turned into a state witness.
The defence argued that the prosecution’s case was riddled with inconsistencies, procedural flaws and weak evidence.
Adv Mokhachane told the court that investigators failed to properly question the accused, mishandled exhibits and never secured key items such as the mat allegedly used during the killing.
The application centred largely on a testimony by Police Constable (PC) Mosenene, who told the court that on 31 October 2024, Ramosebetsi walked into the Leribe Police Station and confessed to the murder.
PC Mosenene said the accused led police to the alleged crime scene in Sebothoane and later to Ha Leshoele, Hlotse, where he claimed to have buried Mohloai in a shallow grave but no remains were found at the site.
According to the officer, Ramosebetsi said he wrapped the deceased’s body, hired a cab, and disposed of it in a grave he dug by the river bank.
However, during cross-examination, Adv Mokhachane challenged the credibility of PC Mosenene’s testimony, arguing that the officer did not probe essential details, such as how the alleged murder occurred.
He also insisted that his client never confessed to murder but merely explained that he witnessed Ms Senatsi attack Mohloai.
Adv Mokhachane argued that Ms Senatsi, now a key prosecution witness, was in fact the aggressor. He said the accused’s version was that he arrived during a fight between the deceased and Ms Senatsi and attempted to intervene but failed.
The defence further highlighted the postmortem report, which revealed that the recovered body was in such an advanced state of decomposition that the cause of death could not be determined.
Adv Mokhachane questioned whether the remains were even those of Mohloai, saying the court had not been shown all the clothes allegedly worn by the deceased.
He concluded that the prosecution had failed to link his client to the killing and warned that calling him to testify at this stage would violate his right against self-incrimination.
The Crown, however, opposed the application, arguing that the accused’s voluntary surrender and cooperation with police indicated a consciousness of guilt and formed part of a prima facie case.
After reviewing both sides’ submissions, Justice Motebele ruled that the prosecution had produced sufficient evidence requiring the accused to respond. The trial will therefore proceed.
