{"id":361769,"date":"2024-08-21T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/informante.web.na\/?p=361769"},"modified":"2024-08-21T17:15:23","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T15:15:23","slug":"state-challenges-rape-accused-doctors-appeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/informante.web.na\/?p=361769","title":{"rendered":"State challenges rape accused doctor’s appeal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Says he was the only one with ‘window of opportunity’ to commit the crime<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Staff Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE State has opposed an appeal by medical intern Dr. Dennis Noa, who was sentenced to eight years in jail after being found guilty of raping a patient who had been in a coma at Katutura Hospital’s head injury unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noa was accused of raping the 18-year-old patient on 11 April 2021 and is now challenging the conviction, demanding that the State produce forensic evidence to prove that he is not guilty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The matter was heard before Deputy Judge-President (DJP) Hosea Angula in the High Court on 21 August 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
INCARCERATED: The former medical intern, Dr. Dennis Noa. Photo: File<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

According to court documents, Noa’s defence lawyer, Janike McLeod-Janser, stated that the court erred by not acknowledging that the State’s failure to present evidence on the outcome of the forensic analysis of the semen-like substance found on and taken from the complainant’s anus is fatal to its case in proving whether the sexual act alleged was committed by the appellant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The court, in those circumstances, failed to draw an adverse inference against the State and give the appellant the benefit of the doubt, or at least seek information from the State on the DNA results, which results were admitted to be known or at least to be in the possession of the investigating officer. The court a quo erred and committed a gross irregularity in misconstruing a material and important issue, i.e., it misunderstood the importance and relevance of forensic results in relation to the swabs taken from the appellant and the semen-like substance found on and collected from the complainant’s anus when the court held and understood the same to be relevant on the question of whether or not the appellant committed the sexual act,” McLeod-Janser said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palmer Kumalo, who argued on behalf of the State, clarified that from the onset, it is worth noting that the Respondent (State) has always indicated that the case was mainly premised on circumstantial evidence which it led against the appellant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Despite relying on circumstantial evidence, that evidence, we respectfully submit, was sufficient to secure the conviction of the appellant,” Kumalo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the State led a total of 17 witnesses who laid out the circumstantial evidence upon which the appellant was convicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“On the morning of 11 April 2021, the patient (rape victim) was given a bath by the nurses, and he had no injuries on his anus. The appellant came and took the patient purportedly for the purpose of undergoing occupational therapy. Occupational therapy does not operate on weekends. The appellant was seen taking the patient to the conference room, a fact which was not denied. The appellant returned alone to the ward. The appellant avers that he handed the patient to a porter but could not identify the porter and, in fact, pointed to a security guard’s uniform as the attire worn by the alleged porter. The appellant later brought the patient back to the ward. No one else besides the appellant was seen with the patient from the time he took the patient out of the ward to the time he brought him back,” Kumalo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that further witness statements proved that no one else besides the appellant was seen with the patient from the time he took the patient out of the ward to the time he brought him back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It is contended that the appellant was not the only one who could have done this. The question is, who else? Is it the phantom porter? But that porter is known only by the appellant, and the only two porters who were on duty both testified that they did not deal with the appellant, and neither did the appellant say it was either of them. This rules them out,” Kumalo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Says he was the only one with ‘window of opportunity’ to commit the crime Staff Reporter THE State has opposed an appeal by medical intern Dr. Dennis Noa, who was sentenced to eight years in jail after being found guilty of raping a patient who had been in a coma at Katutura Hospital’s head injury …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":361774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-361769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nState challenges rape accused doctor's appeal - Informant\u00e9<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THE State has opposed an appeal by medical intern Dr. Dennis Noa, who was sentenced to eight years in jail after being found guilty...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/informante.web.na\/?p=361769\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State challenges rape accused doctor's appeal - 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